Rulers of Death
by Just Another Angry Feminist
Summary: Ivy Richardson has always tried to hide the fact that she's the entrance to the afterlife. Enoch O'Connor doesn't care if people think he's weird, it suits him just fine. When the two of them cross paths, it's less than smooth sailing. The two of them are both tightly embedded in the world of death, but that's the only thing they have in common. Or is it?
1. Chapter 1

**I watched Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children over the weekend and loved Enoch. I've also read the books so I'm going to try and keep his personality like that, just aged up. All the other characters are their book versions, peculiarities and all.**

 **Also, this is a modern au version of the books. Miss Peregrine will make an appearance, but she won't have as big of a role because this focuses mostly on the children.**

 **I own nothing familiar, only the new parts.**

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I remember the first time I sensed someone dying. I was seven years old and in the park with my mom, dad, and little brother when the icy feeling slid down my spine. I looked up and everything turned black and white. While it was like that, a woman ran across the park in the middle of a couple kids playing with a soccer ball, a man chasing behind her with a knife in his hands. He tackled her down right on a blanket that had a woman lying on her back with her baby sitting on her belly, the two of them unfazed by it. When I looked around, it seemed like no one could see it other than me, but it was very real in my eyes.

I tried to run over to them when I saw the man lift his arm and I heard the woman's screams as the knife sank into her stomach, but my feet wouldn't let me. I was stuck on my little spot of grass watching a woman be killed. Then everything went back to color, the two of them were gone, and things were back to normal. A few days later, the same woman appeared in my bedroom with me and things turned black and white again. She touched my shoulder and an intense pain blossomed in my stomach.

I must have screamed or done something else to alert my mother because she came running upstairs to find me doubled over on my floor, sans dead woman. She rushed me to the hospital, but the doctor couldn't find anything wrong with me. The look she fixed me with the entire way home told me I should never tell her about the thing I saw in the park or if another person came to me like the woman did. This was something I couldn't tell anyone about, I had to take this secret to the grave.

Since that day at the park, I'd witnessed thousands of murders other people couldn't see. As I got older, I started seeing them on TV or as a headline in a newspaper and learned they were real people. Then the spirits would appear and touch me, making me feel the way they died, and then disappear. I put the pieces together when I was about fifteen and realized I was kind of like the door to the afterlife or something, the spirits had to pass through me to get to whatever lies beyond the plan of existence we're all on.

Being different in a time when everything is broadcasted on either social media or television is very tricky, but I've kept it under wraps for ten years. I've also never come across anyone else with any kind of ability like mine, just the crackpots you see on TV exploiting grieving parents and using them as their next meal ticket. I kept my weirdness a secret so well that I was actually pretty popular in school, and you know no one who has a hint of being different is ever popular in high school so I had to be doing something right.

School had been in session for two months when my biology teacher decided he wanted to change the seating chart. Apparently, our test scores were terrible and he thought it was because we were too comfortable with our table mates and were talking instead of listening. The real reason was the poor man had the most monotone voice I'd ever heard and everyone chose to be on their phones instead of listening to him lecture, but we couldn't very well tell him that so we agreed to change seats.

The teacher went down the aisle between the first two sets of rows and read off the new list of lab partners. I wished he would sit me and Noel back together, but I knew it wasn't going to happen. The two of us had to be what was dropping the class average so abysmally, we were each getting matching Ds on every exam. She was my best friend and you always wanted to sit beside your best friend in class, right?

"Ivy Richardson and Enoch O'Connor," Mr. Trenton announced, tapping the table on his left as he passed it. Then he tapped the table beside ours and said, "Oliver Weathersby and Hugh Apiston."

I made my way over to the table he gestured to and took the stool closest to the wall. Enoch came over a beat later and sat on the other stool, placing his elbows on the table with his chin resting in one of his palms. I don't think we'd ever said a word to each other, and I've known him since I was at least nine years old.

Noel ended up on the complete other side of the room from me beside Jacob Portman, much to her displeasure. She had a crush on him our sophomore year, but the kid only had eyes for Emma Bloom. It wasn't often she got rejected, and the girl could hold a grudge better than anyone I've ever met in my life. She was stubborn and prideful in a way that scared me and made me glad I didn't possess. I just had some weird ability to see people die and then I was a portal to the afterlife…you know, casual things.

Mr. Trenton lectured and for the first time all year, I actually paid attention instead of texting. Enoch's spine was bent as he leaned forward and took notes, his eyes were alight in a way I'd never seen before. Wonderful, he was one of this kids who was way too interested in dissections. It only made sense, I suppose, his parents did deal with dead people on a daily basis after all. It must run in the blood.

"Today we're going to identify the anatomy of the frog and the starfish because they're the first things we're dissecting next week. The worksheets are being passed back," he said, finishing his lecture and moving on to the work. "Please work with your lab partner to complete the assignment, you may turn in only one paper with both of your names on it."

I reached forward and took the worksheets from Alyssa Merriweather. When I returned to my regular position, I saw Enoch's book open to the correct page. He wasn't even acknowledging my presence, he just wanted to do the assignment.

"I suppose I can write," I said, figuring that's what he wanted.

"That'd be best," he told me matter-of-factly, not looking up from the book in front of him. "I know all the parts already, I'm just looking for vanity sake. I wouldn't want the others to feel even more inadequate."

I was immediately put off by his statement. Was he insinuating that I wasn't smart enough to do anything other than write what he told me to? Granted, I wasn't doing the best in the class, but he still had no right to say that to me. Instead of starting an argument, I wrote both our names on the paper and opened my own book.

I labeled the lungs, kidneys, and the heart before going back to my book. Those were obvious, but Enoch seemed unsettled by me doing so. I saw him glance at the paper out of the corner of my eye and pale a bit before looking back at his book for the unlabeled body parts. After a couple minutes, he started listing off the internal organs of the frog for me to write down, seemingly impressed that I could spell them correctly without asking or looking them up. Even if most of them were phonetically obvious.

We moved on to the starfish and he seemed less confident in his answers. Well then, I guess it was my turn to be the smart one. I slid the paper over to him with a sassy grin, gesturing for him to write while I looked up the answers. I even read them off the page as slowly as he did, making sure to enunciate like I was talking to a small child to make him feel the same way he'd made me feel.

When the bell rang, I close my book and slid it back into my backpack along with my notes. Then I grabbed his arm and smiled my prettiest smile when I told him, "Never treat me like I'm stupid again."

Instead of waiting for him to respond, I turned and left the classroom. Noel was waiting for me outside the door with a pissed off expression on her face. She immediately started ranting about how infuriating it was to share a desk with Jacob and about how much of a stupid pig he was while I just walked beside her. This is how things went with us usually, she would rant and rave about something I didn't necessarily care about and I would nod and listen like I was really paying attention, even if that was the furthest thing from true.

She was in the middle of complaining about a note Emma left him in the margins of his notebook when icy fingers slid along my spine. Shit, I had to get away from people before they noticed me standing and staring off into space. I seriously didn't want to be checked into St. Mary's just yet, if ever, and seeing ghost was a surefire way to do that.

"I have to go grab something from my car really fast. I'll meet you at lunch after third, okay?" I asked, turning around and hurrying away before she answered my question.

I slipped into the auditorium and sat in one of the seats, gripping the armrests as I waited for the scene to start. As predicted, it played out on the stage in front of me like a very real version of _Macbeth_. A man had a gun in his hand with the barrel of it pressed to the temple of the man he was clutching in front of him. I watched him pull the safety back and spin the bullets into place before placing it back against the temple. The man was shaking and trying to pull the gun away, but his strength didn't seem to compare to the other man's. Even if I knew it was coming, I still shrieked and closed my eyes tight when he pulled the trigger. I covered my mouth immediately, but it was too late to stop the sound.

"Ivy?" a concerned voice asked, footsteps echoing through the room as someone came over to me. "Are you okay?"

I forced my eyes open, and I could see tears clouding my vision. I hurriedly dabbed at them with my fingers so I didn't mess up my makeup and realized my hands were shaking. Usually, it took me a couple minutes to recover after I saw things and go back into the public, but Enoch O'Connor had to interrupt that like he hadn't already been a thorn in my side today. Of course he would be the one who witnessed what just happened, he probably thought I was having some kind of mental break or something. As if he didn't already think I was dumb, this was going to be icing on the cake.

"Yeah," I replied in a quiet, shaky voice. "I'm fine, I just thought I saw a spider. It's fine, I have to go to class."

I jolted up from my seat so quickly I almost knocked him over from his spot crouched beside me. I smiled apologetically before scurrying out as fast as possible and heading as far away from the auditorium. I saw things like that all the time, but they never seemed to get any easier to deal with.

Of course I'd tried to stop the murders from happening a couple times before, but it was next to impossible. There was never any hints given about either person's identity and it had, thankfully, never been anyone I knew. It was basically a dead end until the story was released and I figured out who they were, kicking myself for not digging deep enough as if it were possible.

I was so lost in thought that I nearly jumped out of my skin when a hand wrapped around my wrist. Because I was wearing wedges, I ended up losing my balance and fell into the person who grabbed me. Enoch's arms wrapped around my waist timidly and helped right me before dropping them backing down to his sides. He wasn't looking me in the eye, but I could see worry around their edges.

"Is there something I can help you with, Enoch?" I asked, sliding my carefully constructed mask into place to hide the vulnerability I still possessed from watching the scene on the stage.

"What did you see in there?" he asked, his eyes meeting mine with a hint of fear in their depths.

How did this kid know I saw something in there? And even weirder, why did he seem afraid that I'd seen something. This kid was always strange, but he seemed to be getting stranger and stranger as I got to know him.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was just trying to get a couple minutes of peace after being talked down to for almost an hour," I replied, straightening my spine and pulling my arm from his body. "Contrary to what you believe, I'm very intelligent and I don't appreciate you making me feel like I'm not. I also don't appreciate you interrupting me when I obviously went somewhere to have privacy."

Enoch's expression changed from worried and afraid to icy in a matter of seconds. It seems like I'm not the only one who has crafted a mask to cover my fragility. He stood up straight, towering over me by at least four inches, and turned to head the opposite way of me down the empty hallway.

I slipped into the bathroom to fix my makeup after my minor meltdown from earlier. Then I felt the icy feeling again as my vision went black and white. It was rare, but sometimes I got multiple vision a day and they really took it out of me. I was exhausted by the time the last one happened and this one was going to be rough too, I'm sure.

This time it was a kid and those were always the worst, with pregnant woman right behind them. She was tiny, maybe three of four, and the woman behind her looked twenty or so. The woman was her mother, I don't know why I knew that, but it happened sometimes. I just got random insights into their lives that I couldn't exactly explain. Even with those insights, it was never helpful to figure out their identity.

The sink in front of me turned on suddenly, and I watched as the woman held the little girl's head under the water. I realized a beat later that she must've been drowning her in a bathtub or something and that's why the vision came to me in the bathroom. I forced my eyes closed but could do nothing about hearing her muffled screams and gurgling sounds of her dying. I knew tears were coursing down my cheeks, but I couldn't stop them. Thankfully, when I opened my eyes, everything was in color and only my mascara was running.

I fixed my face quickly and took a couple calming breaths. I lied earlier when I said I had a class to get to, I had a free period between second and lunch. Once I'd gathered myself, I left the bathroom and made my way to the cafeteria right as the bell rang. Noel met me at our normal table and I tried to act normal. I was lucky because she never seemed to notice when I was torn up, she was too wrapped up in telling me some story about what happened in her last class as we got in line.

She kept up conversation the entire wait and once we were back at the table with our friends. I was picking at my salad, my appetite gone and replaced with garbled screams. Then I felt eyes on me and froze completely, that's what happened before the spirits appeared to use me as the entrance to the afterlife. I looked around quickly and saw Enoch's entire lunch table look away from me. I relaxed every muscle in my body and nearly shrank with relief, there wasn't a spirit here. My secret could stay hidden longer.

He must've been telling them about how big of a bitch I was earlier. If they knew the same Enoch that I knew, I'm sure they'd take his tale with a grain of salt. I wouldn't have been so mean if he hadn't been so rude to me before. And also if he hadn't interrupted me earlier, I'm always a bit off right after I see things.

"So, what's it like being lab partners with Dr. Frankenstein?" Wren, one of the football players that I talked to occasionally, asked during a lull in conversation.

"Uhm, he's a bit much," I replied, wishing he'd let the topic drop. "I could've done worse, I suppose."

I never talked about people behind their backs, it wasn't fair. Just because Enoch was weird, it didn't give people the right to talk about him. Granted, he was an ass, but that didn't mean I was going to trash him. He couldn't help that his parents were undertakers, and it wasn't very nice of Wren to call him that.

"Come on, tell the truth. I saw your face when we were working on that assignment. You looked like you wanted to drown yourself in the sink," Noel grinned, making the others laugh and my stomach flip.

I jolted up from the table and grabbed my backpack before rushing out of the cafeteria. I scarcely made it to the bathroom before I threw up, visions of the kid bombarding my mind even when I closed my eyes. Even if I was in a dress, I dropped from my crouch to sit on the floor with my legs resting on the ground as a broken sob worked its way out of my mouth.

This rarely ever happened, I usually held myself together pretty well after I saw things. Noel's flippant comment was just the final straw that broke the camel's back. I checked the time on my phone and realized I still had three classes before the day was over so I seriously had to get myself together. No one could know how fragile I was or that I saw dead people.

It just wasn't socially acceptable.

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 **Thanks for reading! If you liked it, maybe drop a review and encourage me to get the next chapter out sooner.**


	2. Chapter 2

**People actually reviewed this story and I was surprised! Thanks so much for appreciating it!**

 **I mentioned this in the previous chapter, but I'm going to mention it again just in case it got overlooked. This is a modern au story so some things are going to be different, but most of them are going to be the same.**

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I rushed to my locker as soon as class ended. I wanted to get out of here as fast as possible; I needed a shower and a nap in the worst way. Puking in a high school bathroom stall made you feel pretty disgusting and seeing two different murders happen really took it out of you.

When I closed my locker, I nearly wet myself –Emma Bloom and Bronwyn Bruntley were standing on the other side of it. Why did this entire friend group think they needed to talk to me because I sat by Enoch in one class? It was really weird.

"Uhm, can I help you?" I asked, twisting the button on my cardigan as I waited for them to answer. "I have to go pick up my little brother from school."

"This will be quick," Emma reassured me. "We just wanted to tell you that you can talk to any of us about what you're seeing if you want. We know what it's like to be seen as peculiar by others for something you can't control."

That was the truth, Emma had a flare for pyrotechnics while Bronwyn could bench more than any guy in school. "I don't know what exactly you're hinting at, but I'm not seeing anything. I really have to go, excuse me."

It might have been a little rude, but I seriously didn't want to talk about what I saw. If my family and best friend didn't know about me being the literal entrance to the afterlife, what made them think I would tell them about it? Just because they were okay with people thinking they were peculiar, it didn't mean I should be, too. I liked people thinking I was perfect and well put together, I worked very hard for them to think that and wasn't going to throw that all away.

I tossed my backpack into the backseat of my car and drove to the middle school, thankful for Elliot. He was the best way to get out of things people wanted me to stay after school for. I used him before and I would definitely use him again.

When I pulled up in front of the middle school, I saw him standing outside with another boy. The two of them had their heads bowed together and were reading a book so I honked my horn and saw him look up before running over to the car.

"What were the two of you reading so intensely?" I asked once we got back on the road.

"Just this book about peculiar children and their history. It was interesting," he told me, pushing his glasses up his nose with the back of his hand like usual. "Like, there was this one about a giant who helped these animals get to the top of a mountain so they would be safe and ended up being turned to stone and stuck in a lake forever."

I've heard the word peculiar more today than I've ever heard it in my seventeen years of life I'm pretty sure. "That does sounds interesting. What's your new friend's name?"

"Horace," he replied, looking out the window thoughtfully. "He actually talks to me and wants to be my friend. No one ever wants to be my friend."

Elliot was quiet and really enjoyed reading, things that made him stand out from the other twelve year olds. It broke my heart that he had no friends, but it didn't really seem to bother him much. I was probably happier of his budding friendship with this Horace kid than he was. I was just glad he finally had someone who didn't think he was weird because he didn't live for sports and fart jokes.

"I'm sure mom and dad would love to have him come over sometime," I hinted as we stopped at a red light. "Maybe have a sleepover or something."

"Ivy, friendships aren't as important to me as they are to you. No one understands me, I'm sure Horace will realize I'm different and stop talking to me soon enough. I'd rather not get attached," he replied, pulling a book out of his backpack and ending the conversation.

I sighed before reaching over to ruffle his hair affectionately. "I just wish everyone could see how cool you really are, kiddo."

He made a noise of agreement but didn't look up from his book. I turned the radio up a little and drummed my fingers along with the Good Charlotte song playing. I saw Elliot nodding his head along to the beat and grinned. At least he wasn't so upset that he couldn't jam to music with me, that was when I knew something was really wrong.

I parked in our driveway and grabbed my backpack from the backseat. Elliot was following behind me as I unlocked the door and headed into the kitchen. I sat my backpack at the table before getting the things together to make grilled cheeses for the two of us. My parents would be home in a couple hours and my dad would make dinner, but that was still a while away.

"El, do you want pepper jack on your sandwich or just Swiss and cheddar?" I shouted, washing my hands and discarding my sweater.

"All three please!" he shouted back from upstairs.

I made up the sandwiches and sat them in the pan, letting them cook while I grabbed my textbook from my backpack to do my reading. I sat the book by the stove as I flipped the sandwiches over and put the tomato soup on for Elliot.

Once everything was finished, I set our food on the table before shouting for Elliot. We ate together before parting ways to do our homework. Well, I pulled up my trigonometry homework while I changed into leggings and a sweatshirt and took off my makeup, pulling my hair up into a bun on top of my head. Then I took out my contacts in the bathroom, placing them in their little container, and replacing them with my glasses. Then I started doing my homework.

I had at least three hours of it ahead of me, and I was not excited about it. I was trying to focus on the Pythagorean Theorem, but my mind kept flashing back to all of Enoch's friends looking at me during lunch. What did he tell them that made them all look at me? It had to be something crazy enough that Emma and Bronwyn approached me after school.

My mind didn't stop whirling until I swore to myself I would ask him about it tomorrow. I just hoped he would tell me the truth.

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When I got to school the next morning, I was already a frazzled mess. I'd seen a person get run over by a car this morning while at a stop light and that was the only thing that save Elliot and me from getting into an accident. Thankfully, the scene played out before the light changed or it would've been harder to hide. I don't think Elliot noticed I spaced out, he was too interested in his book.

"Space cadet, what's up? I've been trying to get your attention for, like, five minutes!" Noel sighed, snapping her fingers in front of my face. "Did you do the trig homework last night?"

I nodded and pulled it out, letting her take pictures without her having to ask. This was how our friendship went a lot of the time, I did the work and she copied it. It was a lot easier than fighting with her, this way things stayed mellow like they should be.

"So, have you thought about who you're going to homecoming with?" she asked as we made our way to meet up with our other friends. "I think John Peterson is going to ask me and he's super cute so I'm going to make him sweat a bit before I say yes."

I nodded, but my mind was on talking to Enoch so I wasn't paying much attention to her. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"Whoa, what's up with Ivy?" Scarlet, another one of our friends, asked as we approached our spot at the stairs. "She almost took out that freshman."

I looked up from the floor and saw she was right. A freshman boy was righting himself beside me from where I'd almost completely taken him out. I apologized and he nodded before rushing away from us. His face was red and I realized it must've embarrassed him to be ran into and the person not even realize it. If I wasn't so distracted still, I probably would've chased after him and apologized more.

"Sorry, guys, I didn't get much sleep last night," I told them all. "Actually, I need to do some last minute tweaks to my history homework from last night. I'll see you guys later."

I was gone before any of them could say anything, walking quickly toward my history classroom. I slipped inside and sat down, surprised that I wasn't the only person in the room. I recognized Hugh from biology and Enoch's lunch table so I smiled when our eyes met. He returned it genuinely, not the fake smile people flashed when they were caught staring. So maybe whatever Enoch told them wasn't scary or weird, maybe Emma and Bronwyn just wanted to be my friends… after all these years. Yeah, I didn't think it was very convincing either.

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Enoch was already sitting at our table when I walked into biology with Noel. She wished me luck before going over to her empty table, preparing to deal with her unrequited love interest. The second I sat down, Enoch turned to look at me with an annoyed expression. Whatever he was about to say was probably going to be rude and slightly offensive.

"I'm sorry you got upset because I tried to help you yesterday," he forced out, avoiding my eyes.

It was one of those apologies that didn't count, but I wasn't going to point that out. Instead, I chose to question him about his topic of conversation at lunch yesterday. I felt like if I pointed out the apology thing, it would just turn into an argument and we would get nowhere.

"So, is there any reason your friends decided to come and talk to me yesterday after school about me seeing things?" I asked, figuring it was better to take the bull by the horns than beat around the bush.

His face paled and his jaw dropped open a bit before he recovered and said, "I have no idea why they would do that."

"I just figured it had something to do with your conversation about me at lunch..." I told him flippantly, taking my notebook and pencil out of my bag as I did so.

I wasn't watching him, but I head the pen he was tapping against the table stutter to a stop before starting back quicker. I looked back over at him and saw that his face was subtly pinker now. That was basically as good as him telling me that they were definitely talking about me. I'd never noticed quite how expressive Enoch's face was before.

"You seem to think highly of yourself," he told me, and I would've believe him if I hadn't see the show of nervous he'd put on earlier. "But not everyone talks about you every second of the day."

I rolled my eyes and turned my body to face his, crossing one leg over to other and fluttering my eyelashes at him. "But I'm so fun to talk about, Enoch. Why wouldn't you want to talk about me with your friends?"

I watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed thickly, trying to come up with a response and failing. The thought of him having feelings for me never once crossed my mind, but it was definitely taking root now. We existed in such different worlds, the thought of them ever intersecting in that way was crazy.

"Fine, you don't talk about me. My ego isn't that fragile, believe it or not," I told him as Mr. Trenton walked into the room. "But that still doesn't explain why your friends thought I saw things and wanted me to talk to them about it."

My admittance made a rare smile flicker across his face and, up until now, I didn't know he was capable of doing so. "I may have mentioned something about you being upset when I found you, and I didn't know if you had any friends to talk about it with. Noel isn't exactly the ideal person to talk about deep things with."

He was right, but I wasn't going to tell him that. "Thanks for taking an interest in me, but I have friends. And I already told you I didn't see anything, I was just taking a minute to myself."

"Whatever you say," he told me before turning to face the front of the classroom where Mr. Trenton had started writing notes on the board.

He was lecturing about the respiratory system of amphibians when I felt icy fingers drag down my spine. No, no, no! Not in class, I couldn't see something in class! It would be next to impossible to keep it a secret with all of these eyes. My vision turned black and white and I gripped the side of the lab table, hoping to keep myself centered enough to at least stay quiet.

Alyssa Merriweather was in front of me with Jerald Bentley coming up behind her fast. She jumped and turned to face him, hiding her face from me, but I could still see his. He looked really upset and reached out suddenly, wrapping his hands around her neck. She was letting out choked noises as he pressed his thumbs against the soft part of her throat.

My breathing was becoming labored and my grip on my pen was becoming too tight, but I couldn't make my muscles release as I watched Jerald's eyes turn evil. I couldn't look away from the scene playing out in front of me, even when Enoch placed his hand on mine. Jerald's hands wound even tighter around her throat and I forced myself to flip my hand over so I could grip Enoch's, too far gone to care about appearances at this point. I kept it clasped tightly in mine until Alyssa stopped struggling in Jerald's grip and he dropped her to the ground.

I closed my eyes as soon as my body allowed me to, but I kept my grip on Enoch's hand. Even if he was rude and slightly off-putting, it was nice to have someone want to help me. Once I completely came back to myself, I removed my hand from his and pulled my knees up onto the top rung of the stool so I could clutch them to my chest. I'd never had a vision of anyone I've known before and this was the girl that sat in front of me every single bio class.

"Now get with your partners and work on the assigned questions," Mr. Trenton instructed, going back to his desk to grade papers. "They're due by class Monday."

The dull sound of talking filled the room, but I couldn't bring myself to unfold my body just yet. I was more than surprised when I heard Enoch talking to me in a calm, soothing voice very unlike his usual one. The more I listened the more I realized he was saying definite words I could hear him saying, the only thing that was different was his tone.

"Even though you're not seeing anything as you've repeatedly told me, it's gone and you're relatively okay," he said, actually looking me in the eyes for once. "Can you stop your meltdown and help me with this assignment? Because I know you don't want to tell me what you didn't see. And you also get really annoying when you think I'm talking down to you."

"You're literally the worst at consoling people," I told him shakily, unfolding myself and picking up my pen with slightly shaky hands.

Alyssa laughed in front of me and drew my attention up to her, making my heart beat faster. This wasn't something I could just let go, I had to tell her. The only problem was I'd never seen her around Jerald Bentley before, but that was definitely who I just saw with her. I needed to talk to someone about this fast and try to figure out what to do.

"Say I did see something, could I talk to you and it not get back to your entire lunch table?" I asked, not looking away from my notebook. "Hypothetically speaking, of course."

He seemed to be thinking for a couple minutes and it made frustration bubble in my stomach. He'd done nothing but insist that I tell him about everything I saw. Then when I was finally ready to open up to him about it, he decided to clam up. My frustration made me stubborn, well, more stubborn than usual and I decided to do some clamming up of my own.

"Never mind, I'll just figure it out on my own," I told him, opening my book to the assignment. "I'll do the evens and you do the odds."

I tucked my head down and started doing the even numbers. I made it number six before he sighed in frustration and placed his hand on my paper to block where I was writing. That was all the answer I needed, he was going to talk with me and keep it a secret. Maybe this could be the start of a fumbly, awkward friendship…or not.

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 **Stubborn Ivy and stubborn Enoch are quite the pair, eh?**

 **Don't forget to review! Thanks so much!**


	3. Chapter 3

**The overwhelming amount of support I get for this story is crazy and SO appreciated!**

 **Thank you SO SO SO much.**

* * *

As soon as biology was over, Enoch and I headed out to my car to talk. I tossed my backpack into the backseat before getting into the driver's seat with Enoch sitting awkwardly in the passenger seat beside me. He was a lot taller than Elliot so his knees were basically under his chin. I reached over and grabbed the handle to extend the seat back so he had enough room to be comfortable.

"So, I figure I'm just going to be blunt about this and hope you don't think I'm crazy," I told him, playing with my fingers instead of looking at him. "I see people die and then I'm basically the entrance to the afterlife, all the spirits I saw die pass through me."

There was a pregnant pause followed by an awkward silence. It stretched on for so long that I looked up from my hands to see if I had completely convinced him I was crazy. His face was amazed to put it lightly, his jaw a bit slack and a hint of a smile ghosting around the edges of his eyes.

"I knew it," he said quietly, still looking at me with big eyes. Then he smirked and exclaimed, "Hugh owes me twenty bucks."

"Great, you're betting on whether or not I have a something wrong with me. Well, congratulations, I do!" I told him, huffing as I turned around in my seat and crossed my arms over my chest. "This is exactly why I've never told anyone about what I see. They think I'm crazy!"

"I never said I thought you were crazy, Ivy, you're jumping to conclusions," he told me. "There's nothing wrong with being peculiar, I am, too. So are all my friends."

"I've heard that damn word more times in the last two days than I ever have in my life. What does it mean?" I asked, still facing forward with angry tears gathering behind my lashes. "If it's just another way of saying I'm weird, I already know."

"No, I'm saying you're not the only one who has a peculiarity, a magic power of sorts," he tried to explain. "I can reanimate dead and inanimate things."

I wanted to argue with him, but I realized his secret sounded about as impossible as mine. "Show me."

"How am I supposed to show you in your Corolla? There aren't exactly any spare hearts lying around," he replied. "We'd have to go to my house."

"Well, I don't have class again until one. What about you?" I asked, reaching into the backseat and getting my keys out of my backpack. When I saw the reluctance on his face, I kept pushing, "Prove to me this is real, that you're like me, and I'll completely trust you and tell you everything."

It was silent again, but the pause was shorter this time. "If we must, I'm sure you know where I live. I assume everyone in town does."

He lived in a farmhouse on the outskirts of town next to his parents' mortuary. They also owned a funeral home in town where they brought the bodies for viewings after they embalmed them. I'd never been inside the place, but I'd always been dared to as a kid –it was basically a rite of passage. I was always too much of a scaredy cat to ever do it though. Instead of mentioning all of that to him, I just nodded and started my car.

The drive was quiet except for the music playing on the radio. When a song by Taking Back Sunday came on, I saw him tapping his fingers against his thigh to the beat of the song. I reached forward and turned it up a little, shocked we had the same tasted in music. The fact that we had anything in common was shocking to me actually.

"Didn't color you as a punk fan," he said after the song ended and a song by The Story So Far came on.

"Is this you being impressed?" I asked, waggling my eyebrows when I looked over at him.

He laughed out loud at that and seemed as surprised as I was that it happened. So I continued, "I impressed you AND I made you laugh? Holy shit, this is a monumental occasion."

It was easy to forget about all the bad things in my life when the two of us were together like this. When we were fighting, on the other hand, it felt like we could tear into each other at any second. It was nice to know we could shift gears if we needed to, and also for me to know there was someone I could talk to that helped me forget things.

"If you're lying to me, I'm going to be really disappointed," I told him honestly once our shared laughter stopped. "You make me forget about what's going wrong in my life, but only when we're not fighting. It'll suck to lose that."

He sobered up at my words and said, "I swear I'm not lying, I can reanimate things. I also don't mean to fight with you, you're just infuriating and I can't help it."

"You are quite possibly the hardest person to read in the world," I shouted, slamming my hands against my steering wheel once I parked in his driveway. "One second you're all doom and gloom then the next you're looking at me and smiling and holding my hand when I'm freaking out. I'm kind of dizzy, and not just from what I saw in biology."

Instead of answering me, he got out of my car and headed into the mortuary. I swore colorfully under my breath before getting out and hurrying after him. I was wearing heeled booties and the driveway was gravel so I stumbled a couple times, making me get there even slower. He was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed, an annoyed sigh leaving his lips when I stumbled inside. I guess my personality wasn't the only thing about me that annoyed him.

The place was cold, dark, and creepy, but the last thing I wanted was to let him see any more of my weaknesses. Whatever side of him I'd seen in the car was gone now and he was back to doom and gloom with the drop of a hat. If I showed him any chink in my armor, he would tear me apart over it and I don't think I could handle that.

"We have to go down to the coolers, I'm going to bring back a person for a couple minutes," he told me as he led me down a pitch black flight of stairs.

I clutched the railing along the side and felt out every step before I stood on it. Enoch went down the stairs quickly like he spent most of his time down there in the dark. If this dude could actually reanimate the dead, I don't even think it would be that shocking.

When I finally reached flat ground, I let out a sigh of relief. Enoch flipped on the lights and I was momentarily blinded, still seeing flashes of white light when he pulled out one of the bodies. It was lying on a metal slab and kind of made my stomach clench up. No matter how many gruesome murders I'd witness, I'd never seen an actual dead body in person before.

I watched Enoch as he grabbed a jar of hearts off the wall and brought them over to the metal slab. Then he rolled up the sleeves of his sweater to his elbows and got a scalpel off the table, cutting into the body's chest. The smell of formaldehyde burned my nostrils, making me tear up a bit, but I continued watching his calculated movements. This was definitely something he had practice in.

He reached into the jar and pulled out one of the hearts then turned back to the body and plunged his arm into the chest. I watched his face as he concentrated before pulling his arm back out and watching the body. The last thing I expected was for the body to jolt forward and sit up on the slab, his head turning to look at me and Enoch. His eyes were black pits staring straight into my soul and his skin was waxy and slack against the bone.

"You weren't lying. You really can reanimate things," I whispered, watching as the man slowly laid back down and stopped moving. I looked up at Enoch with big eyes, "You're like me, you can do things that can't be explained like I can. It's not just me."

He looked like he was about to say something, but he never got the chance to because my vision turned black as a spirit appeared in the room and drew my attention. It was the man I saw get shot yesterday in the auditorium, the vision that started all this with Enoch. His eyes were locked on mine as he slowly approached me. Then he reached out a timid hand and touched my shoulder, making pain explode through my head and a scream rip its way out of my throat without my permission. I hit my knees on the tile floor and clutched my throbbing head, but the spirit was long gone and the pain was just starting.

"Ivy? Ivy, are you okay? What's happening?" Enoch's voice was far away, the only thing I could focus on was the throbbing pain ricocheting around my head.

I didn't know I was moving until my face was pressed against something soft and I felt arms wrapped around me. I collapsed against Encoh's chest and clutched his body tightly to mine, trying to will the pain away through breathing like I usually did. I'd never been through one of these attacks with another person before and him massaging my scalp soothingly helped the pain slowly start to ebb away.

"You're okay, it's not real. The pain isn't real, it's in your head," he told me, rocking our bodies back and forth like I was a baby. "Well, obviously it's in your head because that's what you were holding, but I mean it's mental instead of physical. It's your brain telling you to feel it instead of an actual pain in your head, you're one of the most stubborn people I know so be stubborn and fight through it."

The pain turned into a dull throb and it was possible for me to sit up on my own. Getting shot was always one of the worst pains, but I'd never had to experience one to the head before. I thought being stabbed was bad, but it didn't hold a candle to this one.

When I pulled back from Enoch's chest, I saw that I'd gotten makeup on his sweater. "Please don't be an ass, but I got makeup on your sweater. I'm sorry, but I don't think I can't handle you patronizing me right now."

Instead of saying anything, he just stood up and offered me his hand. He then pulled me to my feet and kept my hand in his as he lead me back up the stairs. Once we were at the top, he hit a light and the bright one downstairs flicked off. So he could've turned it on before we went down the stairs, he was just intentionally making things difficult for me. That was something he seriously seemed to enjoying, taking the piss with me.

We walked out of the morgue and to his house, his hand finding mine again after he unlocked the door. "I'm going to go upstairs and change my sweater, you can stay down here if you want to."

"I really don't want to be by myself just yet," I replied, moving closer and placing my other hand on his arm. "Sometimes they come in groups, I don't think I can handle doing another one by myself after that one."

He nodded tensely, eyeing my hand resting on his arm before leading the way up the stairs. The hall was decorated well, whichever parent did it had excellent taste. The entire house was actually really nice on the inside. If things weren't so tense between us at the moment, I would make a remark about it.

His room was dark with a bookshelf full of books on war and models of war weaponry stuck between them. The other shelves housed different books about biology, anatomy, and animal skeletons. If I had to picture what Enoch O'Connor's room would look like, this would be it exactly. Right down to the thick black curtains hanging on the windows that blocked out most of the sunlight.

"You're very predictable," I told him, making my way over to the book shelf and looking at the different titles. "All about war and science, so violent yet intelligent."

"Didn't you say you wanted to talk about your peculiarity? Why are you making fun of me?" he asked, coming up behind me.

I turned around to tell him about seeing Alyssa this morning and realized how close he was standing to me. His breath was brushing against my face and I had to tilt my head back a little to see him. He was so tall he would be towering over me if I wasn't wearing boots with a heel on them.

"I saw Alyssa Merriweather get killed this morning," I forced out even though breathing was suddenly a chore. "By Jerald Bentley."

"So, you can see people die and then they pass through you to get to whatever is beyond this plane of existence?" he asked, still standing close to me. "And you feel everything they felt when they do."

"Yes, it's just as terrible as it sounds," I admitted, feeling myself shrink down as I remembered the pain from earlier. "But the gunshot earlier might have been the worst one yet, it just kept ricocheting around my skull."

He reached up like he was going to brush my hair behind my ear, but he decided against it at the last second. It was almost like he was afraid to touch me after he'd showed me what his hands could do in the morgue. I didn't know how to tell him it was okay without making things weird between us so I made a sarcastic remark anyway.

"So you can only touch me when I'm freaking out?" I asked, trying to make things normal between us. "That's good to know."

"And you can't let a moment be, that's also good to know," he sassed back, stepping away from me and perching on the edge of his bed. "Do you want to talk to me about this or just be annoying?"

I pulled out his desk chair and sat facing him. "I saw Alyssa get killed by Jerald, but I don't know how to keep it from happening. She's going to think I'm a crazy person if I tell her I had a vision of her death."

"Yes, that would give you a one way ticket to the nut house," he agreed, rubbing his chin as he thought. "Are you friends with her? Can you ask about her relationship with Jerald and it not be weird?"

"Probably, but I have to be careful about it," I replied, chewing my bottom lip nervously. "If she gets a hint that something weird is happening, I'm pretty sure she'll shut down. Something tells me whatever she has with Jerald is a secret for a reason."

Jerald Bentley wasn't exactly the most popular guy in school. He had a reputation for being a total burn out who barely passed. One look at the kid and you knew the burnout part was right, his eyes were almost constantly red and bloodshot. Alyssa, on the other hand, was well on her way to being the next president of the United States. The last thing she needed was to have a loser like Jerald attached to her.

"Yeah, it must be awful for people to think cool girls like you hang out with loser like me," he sneered, his mask sliding into place.

That was the final straw, I wasn't going to deal with this anymore. "Look, I came here for help because you told me you'd give it to me. Instead, you're just taking advantage of me when I'm in vulnerable positions then making me feel like shit about myself and I'm tired of it."

I pushed up from his chair and stomped back down the stairs to my car. I'd handled having this _peculiarity_ for seventeen years on my own, I didn't need any help now. Alyssa would have to listen to me, I just had to figure out the best way to go about it. There was no way I was letting her die, it wasn't any option.

* * *

 **Nothing can stay nice, they're both too stubborn.**

 **Don't forget to drop a review in that little box down there and tell me what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I am constantly amazed by the amount of reviews every chapter gets. Y'all are awesome!**

* * *

I was pissed for the rest of the day after that. At least until I saw Alyssa and Jerald Bentley kissing in the hallway and my anger turned to fear. Sure, it gave me a way of bringing everything up to her, but I hated the thought of him being anywhere near her after what I'd seen. Even if I hated to, I hurried off before someone caught me lurking. I needed to talk to her whenever she was alone.

As soon as classes ended for the weekend, I found her and asked, "Hey, Alyssa, can I talk to you for a minute?"

She looked up at me with worried eyes before she forced out, "Uhm, I have to go to a student council meeting soon so it has to be quick."

"I saw you with Jerald this morning, but I'm not going to tell anyone you're together before you freak out," I started, hoping to reassure her a little bit. When I saw her face tighten instead, I kept going, "He's a bad guy, Alyssa, he has a temper and doesn't do well with people who don't do what he wants. I feel like you're playing with fire and going to get burned."

That was true, I'd seen him get in more than a couple fights over stupid things. I'd also seen him break a kid's nose and fracture his orbital socket because he made a comment about Jerald's hair. He definitely wasn't the kind of dude someone like Alyssa needed to be around, I just hoped it didn't come off as me lecturing her.

"Yes, I know that," she told me with frustration clear in her voice. "That's why I broke up with him this morning."

"I don't think that's going to make much of a difference to him, he's going to do whatever he wants," I pressed, trying to get her to do more than that. "You don't need to go near him by yourself or let him close to you at all."

I expected her to get angry and start telling me where I could go and what I could do with my opinion, but that wasn't what happened. Instead, I saw her eyes fill with tears as she leaned back against the locker doors. She looked terrified and sad and a lot of other emotions all at once, so I reached out and pulled her close. She hugged me back immediately and let her tears fall against my shoulder. I guess she'd been holding all this in for a while now and grateful someone was there to hold her when the dam finally broke.

Thankfully, there weren't many people in the hallways to see her meltdown. I knew it would embarrass her if people thought she was anything but strong and independent. I rubbed my hands up and down her back as she continued to cry. I needed to tell her what I saw, I needed to take the risk and see if she believed me. After all, it was her life that was in danger.

"Alyssa, can I tell you something that might sound off?" I asked once she pulled back and wiped her face with the sleeve of her sweater. When she nodded, I decided to push through and tell her the truth, "I had a vision of Jerald killing you. And I know that sounds crazy and I sound like a total nutjob, but I had to tell you."

"You don't sound crazy, I believe you. I've always been afraid of him hurting me, it's not that big of a stretch to what you said," she finally admitted with defeated sigh. "I'm not going to be alone with him, I'll watch my back."

She smiled sadly at me before heading to her student council meeting. I went to my locker and grabbed my jacket. That's where Noel found me with huge, worry filled eyes and I felt my stomach fall to my knees. She couldn't know about my peculiarity, could she? Enoch wouldn't have told her and Alyssa hadn't had time.

"What's wrong?" I asked, turning to face her. "Is everything okay?"

"Why is it going around school that you left with Dr. Frankenstein after second block?" she accused in a low pitched voice. "Did you have sex with him?"

"What?" I asked, bewilderment coloring my voice. "Why would you think I had sex with him? We went to his place to finish our biology homework."

That lie rolled off my tongue easily after all the other ones I'd told her over the years. Telling Alyssa the truth was like lifting a weight from my shoulders that was immediately fell back in place when I had to lie to Noel. It also kind of hurt that she thought I had sex with a guy I knew barely what kind of best friend did that?

"Well, you could've just done the homework in the library like a normal person," she argued, pushing her bag higher on her shoulder. "People are going to think the two of you are together or something."

"Is that bad for me or for you?" I asked, annoyed with her for throwing this at me like there weren't more important things to worry about. "Are you worried people will think I'm sleeping with Enoch or because they'll think your friend is sleeping with Enoch?"

"Look, I'm just trying to look out for your reputation. You can't hang out with loser like him and expect to keep your popularity!" she hissed through her teeth. "And I'm kind of upset because it reflects badly on me and the rest of our friends, it's selfish of you to not think of us while you're off screwing that freak!"

"I'm not doing this, Noel," I said, refusing to scream at her even if I really wanted to. "If you were really my best friend, you'd believe me."

"Well, I don't," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance. "If you're screwing with that freak, you can just eat lunch with all of his weirdo friends."

"Are you exiling me from our friends?" I asked, laughter clear in my voice at the absurdity of it all. "Are you seriously treating me like this because I did homework with Enoch?"

She shrugged her shoulders indifferently before walking away from me. I just stood there for a couple minutes trying to come to terms with what just happened. I was basically kicked out of the only friend group I've had since elementary school and fighting with Enoch so I couldn't just sit with him and his friends like she suggested. I was just trying to save Alyssa's life. Why did it blow up in my face?

* * *

I'd just gotten out of the shower when I saw the little girl from yesterday standing by my sink. I held the towel rack tightly in my hand as she walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my waist. The poor thing just wanted a hug, but I couldn't give it to her for trying to breathe through the water filling my lungs. That kind of made this entire experience a lot worse.

Elliot was a chess club and mom and dad were on a date so I didn't have to worry about being loud and drawing someone into the room with me. My throat burned as imaginary water coursed down it, and I couldn't get enough air so my vision started getting blurry. I held onto the towel rack for all I was worth because standing was becoming a chore, but I really didn't want to crack my head open on the ground. It would be beyond awkward if my family found me naked and passed out on the bathroom floor.

Once the pain started to recede, I walked to the toilet and sat down on it. Every breath hurt my scratchy throat, but it didn't feel anything like earlier. By the time I made it back to my room to get dressed, my throat was still scratchy but breathing was a lot easier. That was a win in my book.

I checked my phone and saw an unfamiliar number on the screen with a text message attached.

 _We never exchanged biology homework. This is Enoch, by the way._

What the hell? How was he going to text me like nothing was wrong? The fight might have been my fault at first, but he didn't have to take it as far as he did. I know I was very anal about keeping my reputation, but I would never make him feel bad because of it…at least not intentionally. I would also never refuse to be his friend because people looked at me differently, I was cautious not stuck up.

 _I'll bring it by your place tomorrow after I'm finished._

After I sent the message, I went to my desk and started my biology homework. I had at least seven more questions to answer. The last thing I needed was to show up at Enoch's place tomorrow without it finished. Something told me we would have enough to talk/fight about without that being added on.

* * *

I stopped for breakfast on my way to Enoch's just to kill some time. He told me last night it would be better if I came earlier instead of later because his parents would be in town working. That must've meant there was a funeral today, but I didn't question him because I honestly didn't want to know the answer. I dealt with death way too much to willingly talk about it.

I ate on the way and miraculously didn't get anything on my sweater. I parked in his driveway and grabbed my backpack from the passenger seat before heading up to his porch. I knocked on the door and took a step back, waiting for him to answer it.

My eyes were itchy and irritated already and the country air wasn't helping. I was in the middle of putting in my contacts my eyesight turned black and white. It was two kids playing around with a gun when it went off in the little girl's hands. The sound made me jump and scratch my eye with my fingernail, dropping my last pair of contacts down the drain. This morning already sucked and it was about to get worse. I saw a little girl shoot another little girl and I scratched my eyeball, there was no possible way for it to get better.

Enoch opened the door and I saw his eyebrows raise a fraction when he saw me wearing glasses. Awesome, he was probably going to make a joke or something at my expense. Great, I just wanted to get this over with and leave before we could fight too much.

"Save whatever witty retort you have about my glasses, I just want to do this work and leave," I told him, holding up my hand to stop him from speaking. "Can we just do something without fighting for once?"

He stepped to the side and gestured for me to come in without saying a word. I followed him into his dining room and sat in one of the chairs around his table. His homework was already sitting on the table, his writing hard to decipher when I looked at it. This was going to be harder than I thought, I never expected him to write like his hand was constantly asleep.

"Do you have to work at making everything difficult or does it just come naturally?" I asked as I slowly copied down his answers.

"Excuse me?" he asked, looking up at me with narrowed eyes.

"Your handwriting is atrocious," I told him, gesturing to it with the eraser of my pencil. "I can barely read it."

"At least I can decided between print and cursive. Your writing looks like you have two separate personalities duking it out in your head," he retorted.

His response made me snort and I saw him smirk at his notebook in response. Things weren't tense between us anymore and I was thankful. While things were like that, I figured I should probably tell him about the rumors floating around school involving the two of us.

"Don't be surprised if you go to school Monday and hear everyone talking about us having sex," I told him without looking up from the problem I was copying. "It's the latest gossip."

He started coughing as soon as he realized what I said. I figured his response would be entertaining, but I didn't think it would be this big. Was the thought of having sex with me that unspeakable to him?

"Jeez, I didn't think you would get so bent out of shape about it or I wouldn't have said anything," I remarked after he started breathing normally. "I didn't think I was that horrendous."

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and his face was flaming red. I don't think I've ever seen him this rumpled before. I thought about letting it slide, but we all know that wasn't possible for me to do. I had to keep bothering him about it, it was just how our relationship was.

"I didn't know that particular shade of red was attainable for human skin," I teased, sticking my tongue out at him when he looked up. "It's not very flattering."

"Well, how else was I supposed to react to something like that?" he asked, embarrassment clear in his voice.

"I don't know, I just didn't think you'd get that flustered over it," I told him with a shrug. "It was mostly my friends that thought it, not that it really matters. They're not my friends anymore."

That got his attention and he actually looked at me. "That's a dumb reason to stop being your friends. You need to pick your friends better."

And just like that, the old Enoch was back with a vengeance. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."

* * *

 **I can't just let things be nice between them, it wouldn't be genuine.**

 **Don't forget to leave me a review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Y'ALL ARE INSANE! There were so many reviews last chapter!**

 **A couple people asked about an uploading schedule and I'm going to be honest, I DON'T have one. I had the first four chapters already written and half of this one, but now I have to write them all from scratch so bear with me.**

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The following Monday, I walked into the school with a false sense of confidence. Just like I expected, none of my friends even looked my way when I passed them in the hallway. I was officially socially exiled, my popularity gone in a snap.

I was at my locker, trying to convince myself a panic attack wasn't the best way to start my week, when Alyssa came up to me. Her eyes looked tired and she had a scarf knotted tightly around her neck, the longer she stood by me the more frazzled her look became.

"You were right, he tried to kill me," she whispered, tears lining her eyes as she held my eyes. "I knew better than to let him in Saturday, but he looked so sad. We were up in my room and I made him angry and he just wrapped his hands around my throat. If my big sister hadn't been there with me, he would've killed me. You were right, Ivy."

"Oh, Alyssa, I didn't want to be," I replied, hugging her. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Be my friend? Walking by myself in the halls is kind of intimidating, I feel like everyone looking at me knows what happened," she whispered as she hugged me back. I know they know about it, I just don't want the pity."

"Trust me, I need friends just as much as you. All mine decided to ditch me because I hung out with Enoch," I told her after we pulled away from each other.

"I've noticed the two of you hanging out more, but that's a stupid reason to stop talking to someone," she told me as we walked to class together.

"I think so, too," I told her honestly. "I guess it's good I figured that out now instead of further down the road, you know?"

"That's true," she admitted, grinning at me as we parted ways for class.

I sat in my usual seat in history and was more than surprised when Hugh sat beside me. He had his steampunk hanging from his neck and I heard a faint vibrating noise. I figured it was just his phone until I saw it in his hands and it obviously wasn't ringing.

"Hi, I'm Hugh," he said, the same smile from the other day lighting up his face. "I hear from the prince of darkness that you also have a peculiarity."

Enoch didn't waste any time revealing the truth to his friends it seems. "Uh, yeah. Until recently I wasn't aware peculiarities were a thing, I thought I was just a freak."

"Welcome to the club," he laughed, making me join in at the absurdity of the conversation. "Bees live inside me."

I was at a loss for words for the first few seconds. Hugh had bees inside of him? What does that even mean?

"I'm confused, what does that mean?" I asked, deciding that playing cool was vastly overrated.

He looked around the room to make sure no one was watching us before reaching up to cup his mouth. He then blew out a breath and moved his hand back down, opening his palm to show me the bee resting in his palm. It was crawling around and very much alive –that must've been the vibrating noise I heard a second ago.

"You have bees inside of you. Cool, that's a thing," I finally said, realizing peculiarities could be anything and everything. "I just see people die and then act like an entrance to the afterlife."

"Which is a lot cooler than having a bunch of bees inside of me," he replied. "Not that I'm complaining, I love my bees, but your power is so interesting."

Class started a couple minutes later, but Hugh stayed in the seat beside me. I'm sure that would be the talk of my old lunch table, too. Considering Wren and Tabitha, another member of my ex-friend group, were in this class with us ever one of them would know by next block.

As if my life couldn't get any worse.

* * *

"I've heard about your friend problems, you're more than welcome to sit with us today at lunch," Hugh told me while we walked to class together after history ended. When he sensed my reluctance, he quickly added, "Only if you want to, of course, no pressure."

"Thank you, I really appreciate that," I told him honestly. "I'll probably take you up on that, if you're being honest about it being okay. It's okay if it's not, you can tell me and I won't be upset."

Hugh just shook his head. "No, we accept everyone with a peculiarity at our table, but it's not a requirement."

I squeezed his shoulder reassuringly before heading over to my table where Enoch was already sitting. He was focused on the book sitting in front of him and didn't notice me immediately. Obviously I had to mess with him so I snuck up from behind and reached out to grab his shoulder, but he turned around to look at me before I could.

"You're not very good at sneaking," he told me, one of those rare grins on his face as he marked his place with his finger. "I heard you walk in with Hugh."

I huffed as I crawled up onto the stool. "Why can't you just let me have things? I'm a good person."

"That's debatable," he retorted without a second of downtime. "So, I hear you're sitting with us at lunch?"

"You could sound a little more excited about it. I'm a wonder to be around," I prodded, pulling out my stuff for class.

"Someone's feeling a little full of themselves today," he teased.

Just because I knew it would fluster him I winked right as Mr. Trenton called for attention at the front of the room. I sat with my elbows on the table and my chin resting on my palm while he lectured about the anatomy of frogs again. Apparently, we were starting dissections tomorrow and he wanted to give us a 'brief refresher' over what we'd be seeing.

I really didn't want to participate in dissections, the thought of it made my stomach turn. I saw people die every day and felt what they felt when it happened. The last thing I wanted was to have this animal who was raised to be killed and then cut open by high schoolers' blood on my hands...even if it was embalmed. It was depressing and disrespectful, definitely not something I wanted to be a part of.

We were passing our homework from the weekend forward when Alyssa caught my eye. "Ivy, you have a free block next period, right? Do you mind helping me organize some things for the dance next weekend?"

Shoot, I forgot about homecoming being this close. I didn't have a date or a friend group to go with so I would probably skip it, but I couldn't tell Alyssa no. Especially not after what happened to her last night. And I was also pretty sure we had a friendship brewing and I was in serious need of one of those.

"Yeah, sure," I told her. Then I heard Enoch's amused chuckle and added, "I'm sure Enoch would love to help, too. Isn't that right, E?"

I hadn't meant to call him that, it just slipped out. Were we at the point of nicknames yet in our friendship? Hell, could even call what was happening between us a friendship?

"Actually, that's the furthest thing from what I want to do," he replied, seemingly oblivious to my inner turmoil. "I'm sure Ivy can provide you with more than enough help."

Alyssa just nodded and turned back around to pass the papers forward. Of course he couldn't agree to help me, it would go against his very being. The kid lived to be a thorn in my side.

* * *

As soon as class ended, Alyssa and I headed to the student council office to start taking inventory of their supplies. The theme was Under the Sea, which made sense because were the Mercer County Manta Rays. Alyssa handed me a box and a chart, and I set to work.

"So, are you and Enoch a thing? Like, a legitimate thing?" she asked about ten or so minutes into our sorting. "Not just the rumors your so called friends started?"

It was my turn to splutter this time, why did everyone seem to think we were together? "Why does everyone keep asking that? Can the two of us not be just friends?"

"Are you friends? It seems like you're always fighting," she replied easily. "I just figured you were together and fighting was what got you going or whatever…"

My face was hot when I turned away from her, embarrassment flooding my body. I don't know why, but the thought of Enoch and I having sex flustered me beyond belief. It was surprising because I'd never really given much thought to him that way before. He was just my annoying lab partner that also had a weird super power that related back to death.

But, now that I _was_ thinking about him like that, I realized he was attractive. Not in the conventional way, but once you got past how annoying he was, he had a nice face and really nice eyes. He was also tall and no girl was ever going to turn her nose up at a tall guy, if she liked guys that is.

"We're not together, we're friends, I think," I told her finally, figuring I should give her some sort of answer. "It's kind of hard to tell with him."

"Oh, I just figured you were because of the way he looks at you," she said flippantly before she left the office to get more boxes from the store room.

"Alyssa! You can't just drop a bomb like that and leave!" I shouted, stomping my foot in frustration. "What do you mean he looks at me?"

Her laughter entered the room before she did. "I thought you weren't interested in him?"

"Like you wouldn't be interested if I told you someone was staring at you!" I replied, counting the seahorse decals in a box and writing down the number.

"Fair enough," she agreed, sitting cross-legged on the floor and sorting through a box of netting. "He only looks at you when you're not paying attention, I've glanced behind me and caught him a couple times. It would be sweet if he didn't creep me out so much."

I rolled my eyes -I wished people didn't judge him so much. Guilt flooded me when I remembered I'd done the same thing not that long ago. Well, I'd sort of done the same thing. It's kind of hard to judge someone for being creepy when you're like me.

The thought of Enoch watching me when I wasn't paying attention made warmth gather in my stomach. Was he afraid of getting caught and me freaking out or something? Or was he not aware he was doing it?

Too many questions and not enough answers. Why did this kid confuse me so damn much?

* * *

Alyssa and I parted ways a little while later, well, I left the student council office for lunch and she stayed. I took a deep breath before I walked in headed straight over to the line. Once I had my food, I went to Enoch's table without even glancing over at my old friends. The last thing I wanted was to see them laughing at me, bursting into hysterical tears wasn't on the agenda for today.

"Hi, Ivy!" Emma greeted, gesturing to the empty seat between her and Fiona. "You can sit between Fiona and me. Isn't that right, Fi?"

Fiona nodded but didn't speak, not that I expected anything different. She wasn't much of a talker, but the girl had the greenest thumb of anyone I'd ever met. I'm sure it had something to do with her peculiarity, but I was afraid it was too rude to ask. I was still new to this whole peculiarity thing.

"Thanks for letting me sit with you guys," I said as Enoch and Hugh approached the table.

"It wasn't a problem, Enoch sort of insisted," Jacob told me, making Enoch punch him in the shoulder so hard he spilled water on his sweater. "Ow! Jesus, I'm sorry, but it's true! Good god, man, don't break my arm!"

I tried to hold in my laughter, but it spilled out without my permission. It started a chain reaction around the table and soon everyone was cracking up except Enoch who looked embarrassed and annoyed. When I caught his eye, I made sure to wink and his face turned even redder.

Conversation flowed pretty easily, some of them including me, but I couldn't pay much attention. I was too focused on trying to catch Enoch watching me like Alyssa said he did. After about ten or so minutes, I gave up and started talking with the others and eating my lunch.

"You're wonderful, Ivy! I see why Enoch has been trying to keep you all to himself," Emma exclaimed after I told a story about hitting a median during one of my visions and the airbag busting out and breaking my nose.

"Jesus, you guys are impossible!" he exclaimed, making them all chuckle and him cross his arms over his chest. "Why am I friends with you guys again?"

"Yes, I forgot about the hordes of people lining up to take our place," Hugh retorted immediately, making me snort unattractively.

Enoch's eyes immediately flashed over to me and a small smile stretched lips. It was kind of my favorite thing he did, other than when he genuinely laughed. Both of them were very rare and if you blinked, you'd miss them.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile unless you were elbow deep in a cadaver," Jacob said, and I saw a couple of the others nod in agreement. Then he turned to me and smiled, "You need to sit with us more often."

"Will do," I replied, sipping on my water.

* * *

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	6. Chapter 6

**Y'all, this story is taking a turn now and I'm so happy about it! I think you guys will be, too.**

* * *

Alyssa told me that weekend it wasn't acceptable to skip homecoming. She suggested the two of us go together and I agreed, knowing she'd keep badgering me until I accepted. That led to the two of us going dress shopping together Saturday. She already had hers but was dead set on helping me find the perfect one for me.

The two of us have become inseparable in the last week, having no secrets to keep made it a lot easier. If people looked at me differently because of the rumors Noel and the others started about me, I didn't notice. I was content to sit with Emma and Enoch and the rest of them with Alyssa occasionally joining us for the rest of my senior year.

"You could've asked Enoch to homecoming, you know?" she asked as I parked in the lot of the mall and we got out. "I'm sure he would've said yes."

"Or made me look like a total jerk in front of everyone," I retorted. "It's much better for everyone involved if we just go together sans Enoch."

The dance wasn't quite prom-fancy, but it was dressy. Alyssa had a long dress, but that wasn't really my style. We looked through a couple racks and came up empty handed, disappointment welling in my stomach –even if this was only the first stop.

"Maybe this is a dumb idea," I told her, sighing as we searched the whole store and found nothing I liked. "I'm just going to order a pizza and watch Supernatural on Netflix instead."

"You see visions of people dying and are the basic entrance to the underworld yet you still watch Supernatural?" she laughed, leading the way out of the store and into the mall itself. "You're literally the weirdest person I've ever met in my entire life."

I rolled my eyes and linked arms with her as we approached a big crowd of people. "I like to watch other people deal with death and weird happenings that aren't me. It's refreshing. Don't judge me, okay?"

She laughed as we continued searching for another formal dress store. We'd just walked into Macy's when I saw Emma, Bronwyn, and Fiona across the store from us. I waved and they hurried over to us, all smiles.

"What are you guys doing here?" Bronwyn asked.

"Alyssa has informed me that I'm going to homecoming and I have to buy a dress. I figured this was a good place for that," I replied, making Alyssa elbow me in the ribs playfully.

"You're going to homecoming? Oh, how wonderful!" Emma exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement. "Jacob and I are going and so are Fiona and Hugh."

"That's good, I'm sure Alyssa is going to be a total worrywart all night. It's nice to know I'll have other friends to hang out with," I told her. "Bronwyn, why aren't you going?"

"I'm not a big fan of dances or anything feminine in general really," she told me with a shrug. "Plus I have a lacrosse game the next day and have to get up early for it."

We continued talking for a while before Emma's phone rang. Apparently, Jacob and the others were waiting for them in the food court. We said our goodbyes and parted ways, Alyssa and I immersing ourselves back into the world of tulle, lace, and corsets. This time I found the perfect dress, it was a lilac colored, off the shoulder mini dress that I adored.

"That dress is gorgeous on you, V! It looks like it was made to go on your body," Alyssa gushed as we went back out to my car. "I'm going to have the hottest date at the whole dance."

I rolled my eyes at her compliment and laid my dress across the backseat. I already had a pair of black pumps that would go with it pretty well. We grabbed some burgers on the way home and went up to my room to watch movies with them. She was going to spend the night before she had to go to a marathon run thing tomorrow for student council. I was invited, but a marathon was the last way I wanted to spend my Sunday.

We'd made it through a couple of the _Bring It On_ movies when my phone rang. I rolled off my bed and saw Enoch's name flashing across the screen. Confusion flooded me as I felt my eyebrows knitting together.

"What's with the confusion face? Who's calling you?" Alyssa asked, pausing the movie and getting up to come stand beside me. She looked over my shoulder and I heard the smirk in her voice when she exclaimed, "Enoch's calling you!"

I covered her mouth with my palm as I answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Are you doing anything?" he asked, avoiding pleasantries. "And before you make some humorless remark about breathing or something like that, I meant anything of importance."

"I happen to think breathing is pretty important," I told him sassily, a grin tilting my lips up at the edges. "What's up?"

I could practically feel the nervous energy wafting off him through the phone. Enoch was a lot of things, but nervous wasn't usually one of them. I left the room and went down to the kitchen so I could be by myself just in case this got even more awkward. I didn't want any witnesses.

"Uhm, there's this movie and the main character is the entrance to the afterlife like you," he told me like every word was the equivalent of a root canal. "Do you… actually probably not because this is stupid. Never mind, this is a stupid idea."

"What are you talking about? I'm confused," I asked, wrapping my arm around my middle and leaning back against the kitchen counter.

"He wants to know if you want to come over and watch the movie with him," Emma asked, apparently taking the phone away from Enoch when he couldn't push through his awkwardness. "Like, on a date."

Enoch was asking me on a date? What kind of alternate universe have I slipped into to make this our reality? Then again, it did make sense considering Alyssa said he looked at me when I wasn't paying attention and Emma basically hinted around at him having a crush on me any time all of us were together. I guess it wasn't that much of a leap to assume there were feelings involved.

"Was this your idea or his?" I asked, trying to find my bearings in the situation.

"Technically, mine, but he wants it, too!" she shrieked as her voice got quieter as I assume Enoch took the phone back.

"This is optional, I understand if you say no. I would say no," he said in a dejected voice. "This is terrible, I'm sorry I even asked. Goodnight!"

"Just like you to be kind of okay to be around then ruin it by being annoying," I told him playfully. "What makes you think I don't want to come? I just want to know this is what you want instead of what Emma wants you to want."

"God, you make everything so difficult," he sighed, and I could practically see him pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Yes, I want you to come watch it with me. Stop making it hard and just answer me."

He actually admitted that he wanted me to come watch it with him so it was my turn to do something that made me feel vulnerable. "When do you want to do this?"

"Is it really that hard for you to give me a definite answer?" he asked in exasperation.

"Yes! Yes, I want to watch it with you," I huffed. "Alyssa's here tonight, I can't just leave her alone."

"Yes you can, just drop me off at home while you're on your way to his place," she said, walking into the kitchen with me and making me jump in surprise.

We arranged it a few minutes later, and I was on my way to Enoch's place. Alyssa was practically bouncing in the passenger seat the entire way to her house. She was more excited about this date than I was. Well, that wasn't totally true but whatever.

"I want you to call me tomorrow with all the details," she told me as she the car door. "I'm serious, I want all of them!"

"Oh my god," I exclaimed. "Get out of my car!"

She laughed and wolf whistled, making me laugh along with her as I backed out of the driveway. My belly filled with nervous energy as I drove the rest of the way to Enoch's house, my palms sweating against the wheel pretty profusely. With our history of never being able to be around each other without exploding, tonight was going to be interesting to say the least.

There was only one car in the gravel driveway and I'd seen it around the school parking lot before. I figured it was Enoch's, he'd invited me over to watch a movie with him whenever his parents weren't home. I squashed down my immediate thought, Enoch was an asshole, but he wasn't the kind to take advantage of a situation.

I took a deep breath and dried my sweaty palms on my leggings before grabbing my bag and walking to his porch. I'd just raised my fist to knock when he opened the door hastily, almost making me to fall forward. He gripped the edge of the door nervously and looked at me with knitted brows.

"You rang and I came," I told him, crossing my arms over my chest to fight off the cold seeping in through my cardigan. "Not that this isn't great and everything, but I'm kind of freezing to death."

"Already off to a smashing start," he sighed, stepping to the side so I could come in. "My parents aren't here, I forgot to tell you that earlier. Does that change your mind about coming over?"

I turned around to snap at him for being an arrogant snot but realized that wasn't what was happening. He was trying to put his mask on, but I could see straight through it this time. For some reason fear was resting just beneath his stiff smile. What did he have to be afraid of? We fought all the time so that couldn't be it.

"What's up? You're being weird again, and not your normal weird," I asked, reaching out and placing my hand on his arm comfortingly. "If you don't want to hang out, I can just leave. Emma can be a little intense when she wants something."

"Look, I'm going to be completely honest with you as an act of good faith and hope it doesn't blow up in my face," he said in a rush. "I'm not used to being around people alone and definitely not used to being around people who want me to touch them. I'm usually elbow deep in a cadaver, remember? Hardly someone you want to touch you."

There it was, the reason he only touched me whenever I was freaking out. He was afraid I'd be repulsed or disgusted by it. To prove him wrong, I slid my hand down his arm and laced our fingers together. He glanced down at them and then back up at me a couple times, trying to decipher what that meant.

"I don't care how badass you think you are, I'm not scared of you," I told him defiantly, not breaking his gaze. "Not one bit."

"Well, I'm scared of you. Terrified actually," he whispered, his eyes holding mine.

This was new territory for us, we were never like this. We were being honest with each other without any kind of snarky remarks mingled in. I don't think I'd ever seen him so vulnerable before, he usually covered it up with smirks and witty retorts.

"Why?" I asked, my eyebrows knitting together. "I'm tiny and see dead people, not exactly intimidating."

"I've liked you for three years and you didn't know I existed until Trenton sat us together," he shouted suddenly, making me drop his hand in surprise and recoil backward.

"Why are you shouting at me?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Because you are infuriating, I liked you for three years and you never noticed me until you shouted at me because I was trying to help you," he replied, lowering his voice when he saw he'd startled me.

I took a step closer to him and forced my arms back down to my sides. "I've always known who you are, Enoch. You're kind of impossible to ignore."

"But it's different for you. You couldn't ignore me because I'm the creepy kid whose parents are undertakers. The creepy kid who spends too much time with the dissection animals," he ranted. "I heard your friends calling me Dr. Frankenstein. Hell, they stopped talking to you because they thought we were together! I wasn't lying when I said girls like you don't even look twice at guys like me."

"I'm standing in your house with you at ten o'clock at night. What do you want me to do? Stand on your roof and shout about how cute you are?" I asked, my frustration hitting a fever pitch as I placed my hands on my hips. "I don't care what you think girls like me do, I'm here because I like the way I feel when I'm with you. At least when you're not making me want to drive off a cliff. And another thing-"

He cut me off abruptly by taking my face in his hands, his thumbs rubbing my cheekbones unsurely. I know my eyes were huge as I looked up at him in shock, the last thing I expected him to do. He seemed to be taking his time, giving me more than enough to pull away if I didn't want him this close. When I used the front of his flannel to pull him even closer, he smiled that little half smile of his that made my heart beat a little faster and closed the distance between us.

His lips pressed against mine, demanding in a way that was all Enoch. I stretched up onto my tiptoes and placed a hand on the side of his neck to get even closer to him while my other one stayed resting against his chest.

When he didn't deepen the kiss, I got impatient and bit his bottom lip. He let out a surprised sound that made me smile and pull away. His eyes fluttered open as I went back flat footed on the ground, waiting for him to say something. When he just kept staring at me, I wrapped my arms around his neck and went back in for another kiss.

This time he moved his hands down to hold my waist. I ran my tongue along the seam of his lips and he parted them only to slide his tongue into my mouth instead. Just like him to take control from me, he couldn't handle letting me win ANYTHING.

I didn't realize we were moving until my back hit the wall and knocked one of the pictures down. It hit the ground and the glass shattered, making me pull away from Enoch so quickly my head hit the wall with a resounding thump. I groaned and rubbed the quickly forming goose egg as he bent to pick up the mess.

Once I recovered, I helped him with cleaning up the mess. The picture was of him when he was six or seven with both of his front teeth missing. "I missed this gem when I was here to do homework the other day. You were such a cutie!"

"Shut up, I know it's terrible," he told me, disappearing into the kitchen and coming back with a wet paper towel a couple seconds later. "Go ahead, make fun of me. Get it out of your system."

"No, I really think you're cute," I insisted, laughter obvious in my voice. "Look at your missing teeth! And your freckles, I really like your freckles!"

He threw away the broken frame and took the picture from me, placing it on the table just beside the door. "Thanks, your sarcasm is duly noted."

I reached out and grabbed his wrist, stopping him from walking away. "Why do you do that? I'm being serious, you're kind of good looking."

His blush was back with a vengeance as he viciously shook his head. "Don't patronize me, I'm no Wren York."

"That you are right about," I told him, watching his face fall. I moved forward and held his cheeks much like he'd held mine earlier. "You're more like me than he'll ever be."

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him agin, but it was slower and sweeter than before. His hands held my hips lightly as our lips brushed against each other, my back pressed against the wall as my knees got weak. I slid my hand back into his hair and held on as the kiss grew deeper.

We weren't quite watching a movie about a girl like me, but I preferred this over that any day.

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7

**I love fluffy chapters and that's all this one is. Enjoy!**

* * *

We eventually made it up to his room and he started the movie. I kicked off my shoes and sweater, crawling under his covers with him. I rested my head against his chest as his fingers played with my hair absentmindedly. We'd hit a new dynamic in our relationship, and I was kind of waiting for the other boot to fall. Just as I thought that, my vision went black and white.

"Enoch, I'm about to have a vision," I forced out, sitting up straight and clutching his hand in mine tightly. "Just a heads up."

He moved up with me and wrapped an arm around my waist while the other ran through my hair soothingly. "It's okay, just be an asshole to it and it'll go away. You're really good at being an asshole, I know from experience."

I would've responded with a witty retort, but the stars of my vision had already appeared. It was a man and he was chasing a woman with a gun held in his hands. The woman stumbled a couple times as she ran from him, but recovered and kept running. I was watching her so intensely, it scared the hell out of me when the gun went off and her face exploded as the bullet went through the back of her head and out the front.

I buried my face in Enoch's chest as soon as my visions went back to normal and broken sobs poured out of my lips. The visions were never that gory and explicit. I've seen a bunch heinous things, but they were never this close up and almost always the person was facing away from me when they were stabbed/shot. I was so grateful I wasn't alone, I don't think I could've recovered from that by myself.

He didn't seem to know how to comfort me exactly so he just rubbed my back and said whatever ran through his head. "I don't know why you screamed, but I imagine it was awful. Uhm, it's not real. The only scary thing in this room is how bad I am at comforting you without unintentionally being an ass."

That made a wet laugh leave my lips as my tears slowed. I sat up straighter and tried to breathe normally, avoiding closing my eyes so I didn't see the woman's head explode again. There was so much blood and nasty things I would see in my dreams possibly for the rest of my life. I knew he wanted me to talk about what I'd seen, but I couldn't imagine relaying it back to him. I didn't want anyone else to have to deal with what I'd witnessed.

"Can we just watch the movie? I don't want to talk about it," I told him, my voice shaky and rough.

"It's not good to keep it all bottled up, tell me about it anyway," he pressed, refusing to let the topic drop. "Come on, out with it."

"I just said I don't want to talk about it and I don't," I replied, my voice stronger as annoyance colored it. "Why can't that just be it?"

"Why are you so stubborn? It's not like I haven't see worse," he kept on. "My parents are undertakers and I reanimate dead people. That's pretty brutal."

He was right, if anyone would understand what I saw it would be him. I just didn't like him continuously pushing me even though I already said I didn't want to talk about it. Even if he had good intentions, his insistence rubbed me the wrong way.

"It was terrible and I seriously don't want to relive it right now. I just want to lay here with you and think about anything other than what I just saw. Can we please do that?" I asked, moving to sit in front of him instead of beside him so I could see his face.

I could tell he didn't want to let it slid so I needed to do a little convincing. I moved up onto my knees and maneuvered myself onto his lap, draping my arms around his neck. Then I leaned forward and started kissing his jaw and moving down his neck. They were slow, sensual kisses I knew would make him putty in my hands within seconds. Just for good measure, I grazed my teeth over his pulse point and felt his resolve crumble as he reached out for my hips.

"Hardly fair, using your feminine wiles on me to get what you want," he teased, but his words lacked their usual bite.

"I could always stop…" I trailed off, sitting up straight and making moves to sit back on the bed instead of on his thighs.

Instead of responding to that, he tightened his grip on my hips and pulled me closer to his chest. Then he took his turn kissing my neck with me tilting my head back the second he sucked on a really good spot. Needless to say, he left his mark and I was happy it was Saturday so I didn't have to cover it up.

With one hand I held onto his hair and the other I dug my nails into his bicep, holding impossibly tighter whenever he did something I really liked. I'd always assumed Enoch didn't get much attention from girls, but I was very wrong. He was way too good at this to not have had some experience under his belt. Jealousy sparked at the insinuation and he knew immediately, pulling back to look at me with a dazed expression.

"Is it another vision?" he asked. When I shook my head, he smirked and said, "Oh, so I've just blown your mind. Can't say I'm surprised."

I could've just let it go at that, but I have one of those expressive faces and Enoch could see right through me. "It's going to be stupid and you're going to make fun of me so I don't want to say it."

"Ivy, darling, I'm going to make fun of you regardless," he teased, brushing my hair out of my face.

That was the truth so I figured I might as well continue on with our theme of honesty tonight. "I was thinking about how good of a kisser you were and how much practice you must've had and I got jealous. Go ahead and make fun of me, I know you're practically bursting with biting remarks."

Instead of speaking, he laughed nervously and ran a hand over his hair. "If you'd have told me this time last semester that I'd make Ivy Richardson jealous, I'd have thought you were mad."

I looked at his face to see if he was messing with me and saw that he was being totally open. "So, you're going to miss this perfect time to tease me? Who are you and what have you done with Enoch O'Connor?"

"Look, I'm trying to be nice here," he sighed, the almost-always present frustration taking root in his voice again. "I haven't hooked up with many girls, allow me to be happy with how impressed you were with my kissing skills."

I wrapped my arms back around him and moved up to rest my body against his. His hands held my waist as he pressed a sweet kiss to the crown of my head. I hummed in contentment, kissing his throat in response as we settled back down to watch the movie together.

* * *

The movie ended around one in the morning and his parents still weren't home. Apparently, this was common when they had to host a funeral. The credits were rolling when he turned to look at me with only the light from the TV to see me by –he'd turned off his lamp a while ago.

"In case you don't already know, you're so gorgeous it's unfair," he whispered, his eyes big and adoring as he looked at me. "I've always thought so."

I felt my entire face flush at his words. I've been called pretty by my fair share of guys, but it never made me feel like this. I knew he wouldn't compliment me if it wasn't one hundred percent genuine, and I think that's why it made so much warmth blossom in my stomach.

I laughed and shook my head, "I can't believe we're doing this. The two of us are always at each other's throats and now we're just talking about how pretty each other is."

"Actually, I don't think you told me quite how pretty I am just yet," he teased. "Please feel free to tell me all about it in great detail though."

"Well, your eyes are kind of my favorite thing. They're so warm and expressive," I explained, deciding to tell him everything I liked instead of making him take the piss. "And your hair is so soft, I love running my fingers through it. I also really like your smile, even when it's that snarky smirk I get so often."

His cheeks were pink and he was avoiding my eyes in the low light. Then he smiled with his teeth this time, the first time I'd ever seen him do it actually. I guess no one ever told him he was attractive or pointed out the best parts of his appearance.

"I'm never going to let you live that down, you know?" he told me after he recovered. "You think I'm gorgeous."

I rolled my eyes and maneuvered myself out of his embrace. "It's late, I should probably head home. My parents might check on me and realize I'm not in bed or Elliot might freak out if he can't find me if he has a nightmare."

He yawned and rolled out of his bed, watching me as I put on my booties. Then he picked up my cardigan and held it up so I could slid my arms inside. After I was dressed again, we walked downstairs and he put shoes on so he could walk me out to my car.

Once I was inside, I rolled the window down and he leaned inside to kiss me again. It wasn't as intense as the ones we shared earlier, this one was soft and quick. Then he did it a couple more times, making me laugh before he moved back.

"Text me when you get home so I know you didn't do something stupid and crash your car," he told me.

"You're too nice to me, sweetheart," I teased, winking as I rolled up the window and put on my seatbelt.

I pulled out of his driveway and headed back to my house, the smile on my lips staying there even when I tried to stop it. My parents' car was in the driveway and all the lights in the house were off, so I should be okay to sneak back in. I'd done it more than a couple times during my high school career and never been caught.

I got inside easily and made it up to my room without alerting anyone. I checked on Elliot and found him passed on his bed with a book resting beside him. I put his bookmark inside it and placed it on his nightstand, taking off his glasses and putting them on top of it. I kissed his forehead and tucked him in, then I went to my room.

As I lay in my bed going to sleep, I thought about everything that happened tonight. I never imagined Enoch and I would end up making out for most of the night. I had a clue that he had feelings for me and that I might have them in return, but I never thought the two of us would act on them.

* * *

The next morning I called Alyssa and told her all about what happened. Just like I expected, she pulled into my house ten minutes later and rushed up to my room –still in her pajamas. I told her everything, not leaving out a single detail. She squealed and gripped my hands, her excitement contagious and spreading to me.

"I can't believe you guys made out! And he was good at it!" she exclaimed after I finished telling my story. "I've never even seen him with a girl other than the ones he sits with at lunch."

I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Well, I got insanely jealous when I realized he was a good kisser and told him about it."

"You did NOT! What did he say?" she asked.

"He said something to the extent of he couldn't believe he'd made me jealous," I answered. "And he admitted to me that he's had a thing for me for the past three years but thought I was out of his league basically."

"I can't imagine Enoch doing any of these things. He's so reserved and odd, not much of a talker," she replied, flopping backward on my bed.

"He is usually, he only opens up with me on occasion," I told her. "But it's kind of my favorite thing when I see him like that."

Then she brushed my hair over my shoulder and gasped. "Ivy Richardson! You have a hickey!"

I knew my face was flaming as I hid it in my hands –I'd forgot about Enoch kissing on my neck. "Hush, it's Sunday. I don't have to worry about it until tomorrow morning."

The two of us kept gossiping and talking about me and Enoch for the rest of the day. I can't even tell you how much of a relief it was to not have to be afraid of what my "friends" think of our relationship. Alyssa was super supportive of it and thinks we're perfect for each other. It just goes to prove that the best friends aren't necessarily the ones who've been there the longest.

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 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to drop a review and tell me what you think!**


	8. Chapter 8

**This chapter is late, but I'm swamped with homework and exams lately! I'm super sorry!**

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Monday morning I was a ball of excitement bounding in the driver's seat. It was so out of character, Eli noticed and he never noticed anything. He actually closed his book and looked at me after a couple minutes of me practically bouncing in my seat, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"What's up with you?" he asked finally.

"Uhm, do you really want to know? It involves me and a boy," I grinned, watching as he crinkled his nose in disgust. "That's what I thought, little brother."

"Whatever, I'm glad you're happy," he shrugged, going back to his book and allowing silence to blanket the car.

After I dropped him off at school, I met up with Alyssa in the parking lot of the high school. She was in planning-mode for the dance Saturday after the game. The only thing she could talk about was fishing nets and balloons and every other word out of her mouth was homecoming. It was just this side of annoying, but she dealt with my weirdness so I had to deal with hers. We were well on our way to being best friends already, real best friends not the best friends I thought me and Noel were.

She parted ways from me as soon as we entered the school to go to an early morning student council meeting. I found Emma and Jacob heading to their hangout spot outside the library and walked with them. There was a ramp leading up to it with benches down at the bottom where we all sat until first bell rang and we went class. I felt a million times more accepted there than I ever did at the staircase with my old "friends."

Enoch was sitting on one of the benches with Hugh and grinned when he saw me, standing up as I approached. I scurried over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, laying my head against his chest we he hugged me. When he kissed the top of my head, I felt myself basically melt into a puddle at his feet.

"Would you look at that!" Hugh exclaimed, eyeing the two of us after we sat down together on the bench. "I guess Fi and I weren't just a fluke."

"Huh? I'm confused," I replied, looking at Emma and Jake as they sat on the bench across from us. "What does that have to do with us?"

"I got the two of them together a couple years back," Emma explained, looking very pleased with herself. "They were also hopelessly pinning after each other before I stepped in."

"Ah, and I assume she was just as subtle with you as she was with us?" I asked, crossing my legs as Fiona came over and sat on the floor beside Hugh after she waved to each of us and kissed his cheek.

"I'm offended you would think otherwise, Ivy," Emma replied, faking offense and making all of us roll our eyes. "Fine, I just wanted it to happen and didn't want to wait."

I wasn't going to say anything out loud, but I was thankful she stepped in. I don't think Enoch was ever going to make a move, and I would've just squashed my feelings down until they went away. It had only been two days since we were in his room together and I was already a lot happier than the weeks prior.

Then there was the whole topic of homecoming, but I didn't really know how to bring it up. As far as I knew, dances totally weren't his thing. I mean, have you met Enoch O'Connor? Could you really see him at a dance full of high schoolers and cheesy decorations and a ton of people all over each other? Not exactly the ideal spot for either of us, but I was in too deep to back out now and I REALLY wanted to wear my dress.

The bell rang a little while after that and the group parted ways. Hugh and I went to history together, but I stopped and hurried over to stand on my tiptoes to press a kiss to Enoch's jaw. His cheeks turned red and it made me laugh, he thought he was so cool, but he was so wrong. When he looked at me, I winked and met back up with Hugh to go to class.

* * *

"So, have you convinced Enoch to wear a tie to homecoming?" Hugh asked. "That boy detests ties."

"Uhm, I don't think we're going together…" I told him, refusing to look at him. "I mean, I haven't asked him because I don't think dances are really his forte."

I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye and saw the look of disbelief take over his face. "I think anywhere you are is his forte. He'd go anywhere you asked him to go, Ivy."

"Are you serious? Have you met Enoch? He's a sarcastic ball of apathy," I replied, trying to hide how flustered his confession made me. "I don't think he'd go to homecoming with me, he'd just make fun of me for asking."

"If you say so," Hugh sighed, clucking his tongue in disagreement.

Our conversation ended after that as Mrs. Alexander started to lecture about Woodrow Wilson. I tried to pay attention, I really did, but my brain was going a mile a minute over homecoming. Should I ask Enoch to go with me? Or would it just end with it all blowing up in my face like things had a tendency to do between the two of us?

By the time I was walking to biology with Hugh, I'd convinced myself to not ask. I would just go with Alyssa and maybe hang out with him afterwards. If he desperately wanted to go with me, he would ask himself… right? It was apparently impossible for me to ever know where I stand when it comes to him.

He was already sitting at our table when I walked in, smirking at me when our eyes met. I rolled my eyes good-naturedly and crossed one leg over the other after I sat down beside him. Then it turned to look at him with my chin propped up on my hand.

"So, how was calculus?" I asked, trying to start a conversation about something other than homecoming.

"Why is everyone a moron? It's not like calculus is hard or anything, if you just try," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm surrounded my idiots."

I reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. "It must be a terrible burden to carry being the smartest person in the room. However do you do it?"

He instantly picked up on my sarcasm and fixed me with an annoyed look. "You're lucky your cuteness outweighs how nauseating you can be sometimes."

That was one of those double sided compliments, but it still made butterflies flap around in my stomach. He flipped his hand over underneath mine and slid his fingers between mine. I'm pretty sure he was trying to let me know he didn't mean to hurt my feelings without saying anything.

"So you're actually together now?" Noel asked, coming up to our table and eyeing our hands sitting on the table. "How sweet!"

I knew this was going to go south fast, but I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes. "Yes, and it's wonderful. Unfortunately, it's none of your business whether or not we're together."

I don't know where that came from, but Enoch squeezed my hand and made me feel a little bit stronger. Maybe it was him making me feel like this, showing me I didn't need to worry so much about what other people thought of me. I kind of liked this new development.

Her face pulled up into a sour expression, one I recognized pretty well from all the times she was displeased with someone. The more I looked at her, the more I realized she really was manipulative. She took advantage of my need to keep my peculiarity a secret to have me at her beckon call whenever she needed me.

"You should probably sit down before Mr. Trenton comes in. I'm not really sure your grade can get any lower," Enoch told her, making me glance over at him. "But, by all means, feel free to try."

Noel expression went from sucking on a lemon to largely resembling a fish out of water. When she couldn't come up with a response, she turned on her heel and stalked over to her seat. Jacob glanced over at us with an exasperated look on his face, he'd have to deal with Noel being pissed off for an hour because of what Enoch and I did.

"This backbone you're developing is quite a turn on," Enoch told me with a smirk before turning to face the front of the classroom and dropping our hands to his lap instead of the table.

My face heated up so quickly it should've been a crime. "Shut up, you're so annoying."

* * *

Enoch and I were together in the chemistry lab during our free period. I was working on history homework and he was messing around with a little clay solider. It wasn't something I'd ever picture him playing with, I didn't actually picture him playing with anything to be honest. It was hard to picture him being anything other than the disgruntled, angst-ridden teen that he was now.

"Are you playing with an army guy?" I asked, moving off my stool over to stand behind him and look over his shoulder at what he was doing. "Did you mommy get it for you?"

He let out an annoyed noise before holding up the solider in the palm of his hand and allowing it to walk around it. I gasped in surprise and looked up at Enoch with big eyes, he must've reanimated it.

"I thought it only worked on things that used to be alive?" I asked, reaching out and brushing my finger over the top of the soldier's head.

"No, I can reanimate anything I want," he told me, looking over at me. "If I knew it was this easy to impress you with my peculiarity, I would've told you about it years ago."

I rolled my eyes and looked at his face, readying myself to reply with a snappy comeback. Then I realized how close we were standing and how near his lips were to mine. I could nearly feel his breath against them when I leaned into him. He smiled and sat his clay solider on the table, moving his hand up to hold the side of my face.

"Skip the weird compliments and kiss me," I teased, brushing his nose with him playfully.

"So bossy," he quipped but leaned into me regardless.

I kissed him teasingly, small ones to start that ended with little nibbles against his lips. He tried to deepen the kiss a couple times, but I would pull away and brush kisses along his lips instead. He ended up growling in exasperation and pulling me back to him. The kiss got aggressive within minutes and he stood up, lifting me up onto the table in front of him.

"Stop being so bloody difficult," he rasped, biting my bottom lip this time and kissing me fiercely.

Was that a hint of an English accent I heard? I'd noticed before whenever he got intensely frustrated, I'd just never given it much thought. I would've asked him about it if my mouth wasn't busy doing other, more entertaining things.

I would let it slide until we had to break apart for lunch.

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 **I had to bring in his little clay men, they're one of my favorite things about him. Also his cockney accent had to make some semblance of an appearance.**

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**So awesome to know so many people are enjoying this story. I'm glad you guys are so interested and are anxiously awaiting each and every installment.**

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Friday after school, Alyssa talked me into helping her decorate for the dance Saturday. I literally went to the middle school to pick up Eli, who was bringing Horace home for a sleepover, and brought them back to school with me. The two of them were content to sit on the bleachers and wait for me to be finished. I was so happy for Eli, I loved that he finally found someone who understood him. It seemed like the two of us were really blossoming this year.

"So, that's your little brother?" Alyssa asked as I handed her tape so she could hang up some of the netting as some of the others put up the other decorations. "I can see the resemblance."

I rolled my eyes and said, "Yeah, we have super deep dimples and both are socially inept. The resemblance is uncanny!"

She came down from the ladder and rolled her eyes the second she looked at me. "Speaking of socially inept, is Enoch meeting you here or is he picking you up?"

"I already told you, we're not going together," I reminded her quickly. "Dances aren't really his scene and I don't want to force him to do something he doesn't want to do."

"Yes, but I agree with Hugh. Enoch's scene is anywhere you are," she told me, pushing me playfully towards the other side of the gym to set up some of the refreshment table. "Even if he's weirdly quiet and I don't understand anything about him, I know he's really into you."

I thought about ignoring her but figured I should be honest instead. "I'm pretty into him, too."

"Awe, look how red your cheeks are!" Alyssa teased, pushing me teasingly. "It's so sweet!"

"Would you shut up?" I hissed, pushing her shoulder. "We're together, I'm supposed to be into him, aren't I?"

"Well, you're supposed to go to homecoming together, too," she told me, raising her eyebrows to make her point. "I don't think the two of you are a normal couple."

"Well, you're definitely not wrong," I admitted with a sigh.

"Even abnormal couples need to go to their senior homecoming dance together," she pressed. "Don't you want that memory?"

"You know what, I'll just go by his house right now and ask him to go with me. Is that what you want?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest defiantly.

She was going to reply, just as sassily as I did I'm sure, but my vision turned black and white. I grasped her arm and felt relief wash over me when she scurried out into the empty hallway –having a supportive friend never failed to be wonderful. I pressed my back against the cool brick wall as the scene started playing out in front of me.

A man had his hands around a woman's throat and was squeezing something fierce and the woman was putting up quite a fight underneath him. She was wiggling around on the ground, thrashing as much as she could as the oxygen was depleting from her brain. Then, with a sudden burst of energy, she brought her knee up and slammed it into his crotch. His grip lessened on her throat enough for her to break free and slam a brick I hadn't seen into the side of his head and scrounge up to her feet, running from him. During her mad dash, she dropped the brick and the man picked it up before chasing after her. The end was quick, he slammed the brick against her temple and the woman crumpled to the ground, unmoving. The sound of the brick hitting her skull made my stomach flip and made me gag, but thankfully no vomit came up.

"Ivy? Are you okay?" Eli asked, rushing out of the gym and over to me with Horace trailing behind. "What's happening?"

I shook my head and heard him gasp, rushing forward and pressing a tissue from his pocket to my nose. "Your nose is bleeding, V! What happened?"

"Uhm, El, I need to tell you something. It's kind of crazy, but I swear I'm telling the truth," I told him, holding the tissue to my nose as I slid down to sit on the ground.

He came over and sat beside me after Alyssa led Horace back into the gym. I proceeded to tell him all about seeing people die and then having them pass through me to get to the other side. Eli was a very logical person, he only believed in things he could see with his own eyes. Imagine my surprise when he told me he believed everything I said and already had his suspicions that something was different about me.

"Horace is like that, too," he told me after my nose had stopped bleeding and he was leaning back against the wall with me. "He has dreams of the future, and sometimes he can show them through his eye like a movie."

If he'd told me that couple months ago, I would've thought he'd lost his mind. Even with my own peculiarity, Horace's sounded too wild to be true. Then I saw Enoch bring a clay solider alive after watching him reanimate a dead body. Huh, how funny is it that Eli and I both accidently befriended people who had peculiarities? I guess we were more alike than I gave us credit for.

* * *

I didn't lie to Alyssa, I went to Enoch's place after I took Eli and Horace home. I texted him and asked if I could come over and hang out. He replied a little while later and said his parents were home, but I could come over if I wanted. That made a stone of worry settle in the pit of my stomach –did that mean I was meeting his parents?

My music was blaring as I tried to ignore the nerves building inside me. I seriously liked Enoch and really didn't want anything to happen to mess that up. Honestly, the two of us had a pretty good chance at doing that ourselves without the interference of any outside forces. Not to mention the fact that I was about to risk humiliation by asking him to go to homecoming with me. Did I mention that it was tomorrow night? Yeah, I didn't come equipped with the planning skills Alyssa has.

I sat in his driveway for a couple minutes working up the courage to go knock on the door. Once I did, my hands were sweaty and my stomach was in knots. I'd barely knocked on the big, oak front door when Enoch pulled it open to greet me with a hug. At least he wasn't freaked out, maybe that meant this was going to be a chill encounter… a girl could hope, right?

"My parents want you to have dinner with us. You can say no, I would say no if I was in your place," he told me once I was inside the house with him.

"Enoch Allen!" a woman reprimanded as she came into the front room with us. "Hi, I'm Penelope, Enoch's mother. You've got to be Ivy, it's wonderful to finally meet you, love."

"Finally meet me?" I asked, the need to tease Enoch overpowering my nervousness. "Does Enoch talk about me a lot?"

"And we're off," Enoch groaned, sliding his hand into mine and leading me towards the staircase. "Mom, we're going upstairs. We'll be down for dinner."

"Leave the door open!" his mother shouted after us. "I'm serious, Enoch Allen, that door stays open!"

"Yes, mother!" he shouted back, redness creeping up his neck. Once we were in his room he said, "Good lord, that woman can hover with the best of them."

"We have a couple things to discuss, Enoch _Allen_ ," I grinned, sitting down on the edge of his bed and smiling up at him. "That's sweet, by the way."

He groaned and scrubbed his hands down his face in frustration. "Yes, let's laugh at my name. I love when you come to my house just to make fun of me, it's wonderful."

I pushed up from the bed and moved to stand in front of him, placing my hands on his chest. "I think it's cute, almost as cute as that accent you get when you're all flustered."

His face had just started to pale when my words made him get flushed all over again. "My parents lived in England before I was born, I'm sure you heard it when mom talked earlier. It slips in and out whenever I'm focused really hard on something else."

One of my hands moved up the side of his neck to twist into his curls while the other stayed put, playing with the buttons on his flannel. "So I distract you? Is it because I'm beautiful and perfect and amazing? Or is it because I'm such a wonderful kisser? Ooh, or is it all of the above?"

"No, it's because you're so humble," he replied, leaning down and kissing me to shut me up.

He gripped my hips and pulled me close, the kiss getting hot faster than usual. My sweater slipped down my shoulders as I did my best to keep up with his roving movements. When his hand moved from my hips down to grip my ass, a surprised noise left my mouth and he echoed it with a growl of his own. The cracked door was the last thing on my mind as he hauled me up onto the edge of his desk and pushed my cardigan the rest of the way off me to trail kisses down my throat.

"E, no marks this time," I breathed, tugging on his hair.

His echoing laugh was absolutely wicked as he pulled back to look me in the eye. "You know how much I like breaking the rules, love. Plus there's something so satisfying about seeing my mark on you."

His voice was so raspy and so British and sending a spike of electricity through my entire body. I pulled his head back this time with intentions of leaving my own mark on him. It was his turn to struggle through figuring out how to hide marks –then I remembered we were having dinner with his parents and shot the idea down. Instead, I pushed his flannel off and pulled his shirt out of the way, biting where his neck met his shoulder teasingly.

I was so focused on marking his skin that I nearly fell off the desk when he bolted backwards from me. "My dad's about to come through that door, pull your sweater back on."

I waggled my eyebrows suggestively as I did what he said. "I'm only doing this because I want your parents to like me, not because you told me to."

His dad knocking on the doorframe interrupted whatever he was going to say. "Hey, you must be Ivy. I'm Ben, Enoch's dad, it's nice to meet you."

I moved over to the door and held out my hand to shake his. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. O'Connor."

"Is dinner ready?" Enoch asked, coming up behind me and placing his hand on my lower back.

"Yes, son, I was just trying to make polite conversation," he said, stepping back into the hallway and leading the way back down to the kitchen. "I hope you like lasagna, Ivy. Pennie makes the best I've ever eaten, it's to die for. Oh, and call me Ben, please."

The pun made sweat prickle along my hairline, but I forced out a nervous laugh. Enoch's hand gripped mine reassuringly before he said, "Dad thinks it's not at all in bad taste to make jokes about the dead because he deals in it every day."

Was that his way of telling me that his parents didn't know about his peculiarity? "Oh, that's kind of funny –breaks up the monotony and whatnot."

"See, son? She gets it," Ben smiled as we approached the kitchen. "It smells wonderful, Pen!"

We each sat on one side of the table with me across from Enoch and between his parents. I put a piece of lasagna on my plate along with some garlic bread, waiting for the others to do the same before taking a bite. I wasn't a big fan of lasagna usually, but this one was fantastic. It was creamy with just the right about of sweet.

"This is wonderful, Mrs. O'Connor," I exclaimed after I took a drink from my water.

"Thank you so much, but do call me Penelope," she replied. "Mrs. O'Connor is Ben's mum after all!"

Enoch was right, his parents did have accents if you listened close enough. Penelope's was a lot more obvious than Ben's, but their phrasing was totally out of the UK. We continued to eat and make small talk, but I kept catching Enoch's eye across the table. Every time he looked at me, I felt heat overtake my body and my stomach knotted up enticingly –I wanted more than anything to go upstairs and continue where we left off.

"So, Ivy, what do your parents do?" Penelope asked after she finished an interesting story about a body _mysteriously_ disappearing about ten or so years back.

"My dad's a banker and my mom is a paralegal," I answered, biting into my garlic bread and swallowing it before continuing, "Nothing nearly as interesting as what the two of you do."

Ben started in on his own tale of mortuary hijinks, sparking a conversation that carried us through the rest of dinner. We took our plates to the kitchen when we were finished and after swearing to his mother we'd keep the door open, we headed back upstairs to his room. I untied my booties and tucked my feet underneath me when I sat down on his bed.

"So, you said you had some things to talk to me about," he mentioned, sitting across from me with his knee touching mine. "I'm sure they're about more than just me leaving marks on you."

I figured I wouldn't beat around the bush, I needed to tackle this thing head on. "So, the homecoming dance is tomorrow and I was going to go with Alyssa, but I really want to go with you instead and I know that's not your thing and you probably think it's stupid and this is probably dumb and you're going to make fun of me so I'm just going to stop talking before I make things even worse –yeah."

"I don't think I've ever seen you this flustered before," he remarked, reaching out and tracing his thumb over my flushed cheekbone. "Also, I have no idea what you just said. All I made out was homecoming, Alyssa, and stupid."

"I know it's last minute and you hate wearing ties, but do you want to go to homecoming with me?" I asked, avoiding his eyes by looking at the human anatomy poster behind him.

"I do think homecoming is stupid and I also hate ties, but I'll go with you if you want. Unless you make me wear a full suit, then it's a no go," he answered, tilting my chin until I was looking him square in the eye. "I was going to come anyway, it's just nice to know you want me there."

I swallowed my pride and moved until I was sitting on my knees in front of him, holding his face in my hands. "I want you everywhere I am, and if you make fun of me for it, I'm never kissing you again."

He turned his head to the side and kissed the palm of my hand. "You couldn't even if you tried, love."

He was right and, for once, I wasn't mad about it one bit.

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 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Don't forget to review and tell me what you like/dislike about every chapter! It's super helpful.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Y'all are awesome, that's all.**

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My mother decided she was going to take me to get my nails done on Saturday morning. She really wanted to know about the "mysterious" guy I was going to homecoming with and why I'd kept him a secret from her and dad. I loved my mother, I really did, but she had a flare for the dramatic –and my love life was no exception.

I got up and dressed with her looking over my shoulder the entire time I did my makeup. She made clucking noises when I made my eyeshadow darker than she thought it should be and don't even get me started on how much she sighed when I winged my eyeliner. By the time we got into the car, my nerves were fried and I was a jumpy mess.

"Ivy, tell me all about this boy you're going to homecoming with. I want to know everything," she gushed as she drove to town. "Do I know his parents?"

"Yeah, they're pretty well known in town," I told her, trying to avoid telling her any details even though I knew it was futile.

"Well, suspense isn't a very flattering state to be in, Ivy dear," she told me, an edge of annoyance coloring her voice.

I let out a breath before answering her unasked question, "They're Ben and Penelope O'Connor. I'm going with their son Enoch, who I've been seeing for the past week or so."

The car went silent as my answer set in and told me she wasn't pleased with my answer. She wouldn't have been upset if he was from a rich family or one that was prevalent in society. My mother wasn't a bad person, she was just very societal minded –meaning she cared very much what others thought of her.

"Oh."

She didn't say another word until we were at the salon and I was getting my nails done. I talked with the man doing them more than I did with her. Do you see why I was okay with her and my dad being gone so much?

"Make sure you tag me in your Instagram pictures so I can see what you look like all dolled up," he told me as he put the finishing touches on my left hand. "You're beautiful, I'm sure your dress is gorgeous and the person you're going with is going to be so lucky."

His complement almost made me forget about the awkwardness between me and my mother. Then we got back in the car together and she tried to apologize, and just succeeded in making things weirder between us.

"I didn't mean to upset you earlier, Ivy. I just didn't envision my daughter dating the son of the town undertakers," she tried to explain. "If he treats you well, then I'm happy for you. As long as I get to meet him tonight because he's obviously picking you up."

"Of course, the turgid gender roles are still in place," I sighed, pulling my knees up into the seat with me. "He treats me very well, I'm very happy."

"Don't pull any of that feminist bullshit, I just want to meet the boy," she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she turned in to the country club where we were going to have lunch. "I don't care about anything other than how he treats you."

That was one of the nicest things she'd ever said to me, she was a professional at giving backhanded compliments. We ate together and finally fell into a good place, we talked about Eli and how well he was doing in school. We also talked about how he was making friends and seemed to be happier –a pattern she noticed between her kids recently.

By the time we got home, I locked myself upstairs in the bathroom to do my hair and makeup. Mostly because I wanted to be alone, I also kind of wanted to look perfect, but that wasn't the point. Alyssa called me a couple hours later and we FaceTimed as we got ready. We would have actually been together if she didn't have to go to the dance three hours before me. She was doing the finishing touches on hers whereas I'd just started legitimately getting ready instead of just messing around to waste time.

"So, your mother basically already hates Enoch and she hasn't even met him yet?" she asked, her jaw dropping a bit as she processed what I said.

I finished winging my eyeliner out on my left eye before I responded. "She doesn't like that he isn't a member of her stupid country club or someone super high up in society. My mother can be very shallow."

"Just wait until she sees the two of you together," Alyssa promised. "She's got to understand it whenever she does. You guys just make sense."

I hoped she was right, I really cared about Enoch and wanted my mom to as well. Alyssa ran through the list of things she had to make perfect as I finished my eyeliner on my right eye. Then I went on to pinning my hair up and curling the pieces that fell out of the twist to frame my face. Eventually, she hung up because she had to leave and I heard someone knock on the door downstairs. Thankfully, I heard Eli answer it along with Horace instead of my mother or father.

I took my dress off the hanger from the back of my closet door and laid it on my bed. Then I shed the flannel I'd been wearing before along with the compression shorts. I stepped into the dress and pulled it on, zipping it into place and putting on my heels before looking in the mirror. I looked really good, this was going to be a good night.

A knock on my door drew my attention away from the full length mirror. Eli was standing in the hallway, and his eyebrows nearly touched his hairline when he saw me.

"Is that a good surprised or a bad surprised?" I asked, nervously running my hands over the fabric of the skirt.

"You look so pretty," he told me, his eyes big as he looked at me. "Enoch's downstairs, by the way."

I hugged him and heard him laugh awkwardly as a blush covered his face. "Okay, we'd better get down there before mom and dad scare him off."

"He's okay, he's talking with Horace. Apparently, they know each other," he told me as we headed to the staircase. "Dad's not here, he's still at work. Mom said he was finishing up some last minute stuff or something."

Okay, so I have this theory about my father that I've never told anyone. He worked a lot of late nights at the bank and went on trips with work as his excuse. To me that just didn't sounded like he was cheating on mom. To be totally honest, they were probably cheating on each other and staying together because divorces looked bad.

"Ivy! You didn't do a grand entrance! Turn around and do it again!" mom shouted when Eli and I walked into the room.

I was about to snap back at her when I saw how Enoch was looking at me. His jaw was a little slack and his eyes were bigger than Eli's were earlier. Warmth gathered in my stomach as I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. Then his lips turned up into the smallest, most adoration-filled grin possible, but it made one sprout on my lips.

My mom was still speaking when I made my way over to him slowly. He was still at least five inches taller than me still, but my heels made me closer to his face. If we hadn't been in front of so many people, I would've kissed him until we were both breathless.

"Hi," I finally said. Then I twisted his tie around my hand playfully, I whispered, "You're wearing a tie just for me?"

"Jesus, you look amazing," he replied, ignoring my taunts.

"I want pictures!" mom announced, finally breaking into our little world. "And before you give me lip, Ivy Caroline, I'm going to get them."

Enoch wrapped his arm around my waist and I place my hand on his chest as we posed. I'm pretty sure the two of us were in agreement that this was totally stupid, but we smiled for my mom. When she finally let us go, I winked at Eli and yanked Enoch out of the house by his hand before my mom could say anything offensive.

Once we were in his car and driving to the school, he reached over and took my hand in his. "You look so beautiful, I don't even have anything sarcastic to say."

When he stopped at a red light, I undid my seatbelt and maneuvered myself over so I could kiss his cheek. I felt it heat up under my lips as he squeezed my hand in response, too focused on the road to kiss me back. I moved my hand out of his and left it resting on my thigh as I reached up to play with Enoch's curls as we drove.

He pulled into the school parking lot in his regular spot, killing the engine and turning to look at me after he took off his seatbelt. He cupped my jaw and pulled me in for a kiss, effectively making me feel like I was spinning out of control and safely stationary at the same time. Man, this boy really had a hold over me.

"As much as I don't want to, let's go to this dance," he told me once we'd pulled away from each other. "Alyssa worked pretty hard, she probably wants you to see it."

When we got out, he came over and grabbed my hand with our fingers intertwined. I was surprised by how well I was walking in my heels, but as soon as I thought that I nearly took a nosedive. If Enoch hadn't been holding on to me, I probably would have fell face first into the pavement.

"Cinderella you are not, my dear," he grinned, kissing my temple as we walked into the auditorium. I was about to open my mouth to argue when he said, "You're far more beautiful."

"Listen, you've got to stop doing that. I don't know how to take the smooth, charming Enoch," I whined. "I miss the awkward, asshole I started dating."

"That's good because I'm out of lines and can't dance to save my life," he told me with an embarrassed grimace on his face.

"There's my boy," I grinned, standing on my tiptoes and kissing him chastely.

He rolled his eyes as we walked the rest of the way into the gym. It looked fantastic, I was so proud of Alyssa! I looked around but couldn't find her. She must've been buzzing around like a bee trying to make sure everything stayed perfect. Before the night was over, I would find her and have at least one dance. Until then, I was Enoch's.

We found Emma, Jacob, Hugh, and Fiona at a table and made our way over to them. Emma hugged me and complimented my dress, and I did the same in return before complimenting Fiona's dress, too. We all sat down and started talking about how well Alyssa did at decorating the gym, and how it barely smelled like sweat at all.

A couple songs played through before Emma tugged me out onto the dance floor with Fiona in tow behind us. We were dancing to a Taylor Swift song when Emma spun me around and I saw Enoch watching me. He winked when our eyes met, making Emma giggle and pull me into an excited hug.

"The two of you are so cute!" she squealed, allowing Fiona to make her escape back to Hugh.

She and I followed her back over to the table where she plopped down onto Jacob's lap. He kissed her chin before going back to whatever he and Hugh were doing. Instead of sitting down, I grabbed Enoch's hand and pulled him out onto the dance floor with me.

The song changed from a fast paced song to a slow one as he wrapped his arms around my middle. I draped mine over his shoulders as we moved along to the song. He was looking down at me with a smirk, making me narrow my eyes at him playfully.

"What's that look about?" I asked, twisting my fingers in the curls at the nape of his neck as we danced.

"I was just wondering why this dance was so important to you," he told me, moving us slowly around the dance floor. "I never took as the type to think stupid things like this were important."

He didn't mean that as harshly as it came out, but I still flinched. "I'm sorry, you didn't have to come with me if you didn't want to. I just thought it would be good to come to at least one dance in high school."

"Hey, don't be upset. I have a big mouth I don't know how to control," he said when he realized how torn up I was getting. "I'll go to a million dances with you if it's what you want. I just want to make you happy."

Whatever sour mood had been developing from his words evaporated. "You're kind of the sweetest guy in the world, when you're not ruining it."

He laughed mockingly before taking my face in his hands and pulling me into a kiss that left me reeling. I felt the sparks go all the way down to my toes, making me feel alight. I stayed in his arms the rest of the night, even when the songs changed to fast ones. There was nowhere else I'd rather be.

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 **Thanks for reading! As always, don't forget to drop a review down there!**


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter is kind of shorter and WAY later than the others. I'm sorry, but it's finally here!**

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The dance ended and the group of us decided to go get some burgers together. I didn't want to put my heels back on so I convinced Enoch to carry me on his back. Even though he complained the entire way back to his car, his smile was blinding in the selfie I took of the two of us. I couldn't believe I spent so much time not realizing how attractive he was.

Once I was securely back in his car with him in the driver's seat, I placed my hand on top of his where it rested on my thigh. Enoch followed Jake and Emma with Hugh and Fiona behind us as we headed to whatever restaurant was open this late with Alyssa following behind them. She was off the hook for cleanup because she'd practically set the entire thing up by herself.

I was in the middle of posting the picture to Instagram when my eyes started to burn. When I looked up, I saw the woman from my vision on Friday standing on the side of the road. My heart started pounding as I realized I was going to have to feel her death. It had been a couple days since I'd had a vision or felt a death, and I was foolish to think that streak would keep going.

"E, can we pull over?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

His grip on my thigh tightened as he signaled and turned down the gravel road I pointed out. The second the car turned off the girl appeared in the floorboard in front of me. She frowned and mouthed "sorry" before reaching out and touching the top of my hand before disappearing.

Thankfully, this time I didn't scream or jerk when it happened. I just sat rigid in the passenger seat, Enoch's voice a dull roar in the background. Instead of being over quickly like the gunshot, it kept throbbing and felt vaguely like a horde of angry bees was inside my skill, stinging everything in their path.

"V, is this the one Horace was telling me about? The vision you had at the school?" he asked, brushing my hair out of my face as he rubbed my knee. "It's got to almost be over, you're not really reacting so I can't tell what's happening. Uhm, your eyes are shut and your jaw is clenched so I assume you're still feeling the pain. What can I do to help?"

I just shook my head and forced my eyes open so I could see him. His eyes were big with worry as he leaned over to comfort me. I forced myself to function through the pain, unlocking my jaw and letting out a pained whimper. Thankfully, the pain started to ebb away slowly as I focused more on Enoch and less on my throbbing head. Looking at him seemed to make things a lot easier.

"I'm okay," I told him, my voice only vaguely sounding like it went through a cheese grater. "Thanks for only being kind of an asshole."

He rolled his eyes and asked, "Are you really okay? Also, shut up and don't be rude to someone when they're trying to help you."

I laughed wetly and flipped down his visor to fix my face. I pulled a makeup wipe out of it and wiped all the mascara off my cheeks, replacing my foundation and blush as Enoch watched me. His phone rang suddenly and he answered it, never taking his eyes off me.

"Hey, we got a little sidetracked," he told them, reaching out and cupping my jaw affectionately. "Yeah, we'll meet you guys there in a couple minutes."

He hung up his phone soon after and dropped it into the cup holder. I reclosed my eyes for a second and just basked in the way it felt when the two of us were together like this. After the pain I'd just experienced, having him touch me so gentle and intimately was everything I needed to put myself back together.

I turned my head to the side and kissed his palm before saying, "Thank you for being here for me even when I'm difficult and seeing people die and feeling their pain."

"It was a good way to pass time," he winked, making me purse my lips out in a pout. When my stomach growled, he leaned forward to kiss my forehead. "Okay, let's go meet our friends before they send out a search party."

He leaned forward and connected his lips to mine, making me squeal when his teeth replaced mine on my bottom lip. We couldn't get very close with his console between us so I decided to make a decision. I pulled away from him and maneuvered myself into his backseat, looking at him and waggling my brows suggestively –an invitation for him to join me. He immediately tore out of his seat and opened the one opposite me, moving until his body was resting over mine pleasantly.

I reached up and carded my fingers in his hair, using it to direct his lips down to mine. It was a battle from the start, the two of us fighting for dominance against each other. I may have cheated by raising my leg and hooking it over his hip as I dug my nails into the back of his neck, but who's to say? In response he slid his hand underneath me and pressed our bodies together by resting it against my lower back.

Like I expected, I had control for a couple seconds before he demanded it back. His mouth completely claiming mine and making heat blossom throughout me. We were pressed to intimately together, there wasn't a centimeter between us. I don't think I'd ever been this close to anyone before. I could actually feel how hard his heart was racing from where our chest connected and I'm sure he could feel mine. It was kind of nice to be reminded that I also made him nervous.

I pushed on his shoulders and dropped my legs from around his waist. "Sit up."

He did as I instructed with knitted brows, but I didn't give him enough time to question me. I moved myself onto his lap and draped my arms over his shoulders, leaning forward to reconnect our lips. He gripped my hip tightly in one hand and held my jaw in the other, kissing me ravenously. We were turning our heads to get closer and drinking each other in in a way that was all new to me.

I broke away to catch my breath, but his kisses didn't stop. He placed a line of them down to the start of my dress before going back to nibble on my collarbone. I was breathing heavily and tugging on his hair as I titled my head back. Luckily, he'd slid his hand up to support me or I probably would've fell back into the floorboard considering all the bones in my body suddenly felt like cooked spaghetti.

"E," I breathed.

Instead of pushing further, Enoch pulled away from me and reached around my body to the front of the car. I held his shoulders to stay upright and realized his phone was ringing. A particularly naughty idea crossed my mind and I started leaving kisses along the exposed skin of his throat as he tried to talk on the phone.

It was either Jacob, Emma, or Hugh by the context of the conversation, and his voice was deliciously unsteady. I pulled his tie loose and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his dress shirt so I could leave a mark without getting caught. I left open mouth kisses along the line of his neck and shoulder, leaving a sizable mark where the two met.

"Yeah, we'll meet you there," he said, hanging up the phone and tossing it to the side. "You are in so much trouble."

* * *

We did end up meeting them at McDonald's twenty minutes later, only a tiny bit disheveled. Of course Alyssa noticed the difference the second we walked in and so did Emma. The difference was Emma immediately started raving and asking what we'd been doing to keep us away for so long- they'd all already ate and were just talking now.

"You two were late because you were hooking up, aren't you?" she asked, making the others explode into boisterous laughter. "How risqué!"

I saw Enoch's face flush and knew I was on my own. "Well, that did happen, but it's not technically why we're late. I had to deal with something and freaked out."

They sobered quickly, realizing the weight of my words. Alyssa reached across the table and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze before Emma wrapped an arm around my shoulders. Comfort soaked deep into my bones and I let out a breath full of contentment.

Eventually, Enoch and I went to order something to eat because I was starving. My stomach growling made the others laugh and Enoch peck my cheek. He and I argued for more than we should have before he gave in and let me pay for our food. I was going to have to work on him and his deeply ingrained gender roles.

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 **You are important. You are loved. You are worthy. You belong here. There is nothing wrong with you.**

 **Just thought I'd tell you just in case you haven't heard it enough.**


	12. Chapter 12

**This chapter is super duper late and I'm so sorry! This chapter is also full of angst and drama and too many emotions to even fathom.**

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I knew Noel was vindictive, but I never thought she'd be downright cruel to me. I figured she'd just glare at me across the cafeteria or the hallway or something like that, but I guess that wasn't enough for her. She couldn't see me being happy with anyone other than her and my old friend group, so she had to do everything in her power to try and tear me down.

Things were normal the first couple days back at school after the dance. Enoch and I did homework together after school and made out on his bed whenever we were finished. Well, we usually waited until we were finished. I thought we had a pretty good level of trust between that couldn't be broken by dumb rumors, but I guess the relationship wasn't as strong as I hoped.

I dropped Eli off at school and came to meet everyone at the library like normal, but nothing was normal. Everyone was already sitting there except for me and Alyssa, and there was tension in the air so thick you could cut it with a knife. Before I could ask what was wrong, she grabbed my hand and pulled me away from them.

"What's happening? Why is there so much tension?" I whispered, crossing my arms over my chest tightly as my stomach flipped.

"It may or may not be circling around school that you slept with Wren York Tuesday night," she replied.

I felt my jaw drop as I processed what she said. He needed one tutoring for class and the teacher asked me to do it. There's no polite way to turn that down and I seriously needed to pass that class. The last thing I needed was for the teacher to dislike me and start grading me harsher. So, I met Wren in the library and showed him how to do the work –but we never left the school and we most definitely NEVER had sex.

"What? Who said that?" I asked, forgetting to lower my voice in my surprise. "We literally stayed in the library for a couple hours and went our separate ways. We didn't talk about anything other than school work, I didn't even look him in the eye the entire time."

"Noel just _happened_ to let it slip as Emma and Jake were walking past this morning. I heard her tell Enoch and the others right before you walked up," she explained, her voice still pitched low.

I was at a loss for words. Enoch seriously believed I had sex with Wren that day? I literally went to his house right after the tutoring session and kissed him. Why would I do that? I had a heart, I wasn't unnecessarily cruel –especially not to him.

Instead of standing there and asking myself all those questions, I turned on my heel and stormed over to the group of them. All eyes were on me again, but I refused to shrink down. I'd been through too much when my "friends" were involved to react at this point. I wasn't going to go down without a fight this time.

"Enoch, can I talk to you? In private."

Instead of waiting for his answer, I walked out to the parking lot and got in my driver's seat. Enoch opened the passenger seat door and sat down a couple seconds later, a thick silence enveloping the car. I waited a couple beats for him to bring up why he was upset, but it never happened. I was going to have to start this conversation if I wanted it to happen.

"Why are you freezing me out?" I asked, feigning ignorance for the time being.

"You hooked up with Wren and then came to my house, laid in my bed with me like it didn't happen," he told me, glaring at the cactus air freshener on my visor.

"I've never had sex with anyone, much less Wren York," I said, staring at him despite his reluctance to even look at me. "Why would you even think for a second I would? I thought I'd made it pretty clear I really like you, Enoch."

"But I'm not good enough for you, every single person that sees us together knows that. I can't believe I seriously fooled myself into thinking it could work. Girls like you fall in love with guys like Wren, not guys like me," he said, speaking more to the windshield than me.

"You are impossible! I swear on all things holy I've never done anything with Wren nor do I have any intentions of ever doing anything. The only guy I can even fathom having sex with in the near future is you and right now that is slowly evaporating," I cried, slamming my hands against my steering wheel. "I cannot keep reassuring you of my feelings, Enoch, I won't. I get being insecure, I really do, but you have to believe me. There's nothing I can do if you don't trust what I tell you."

We'd reached an impasse in our relationship, earlier than I figured but here we are. I'd told him the honest truth and it was his choice whether he believe me. I'd basically said I only wanted to have sex with him, but I was too afraid to look at his face when I said it. I was staring at the Incubus CD sitting on top of my console when I said that instead.

"You want to have sex with me?" he asked, obviously picking out the most important part of what I'd said to him.

"You are such a dude," I sighed, turning my body to face the front instead of him. "Yes, I want to have sex with you… eventually. The most important part of what I told you, despite what you got from it, is that I didn't do anything with Wren. I need you to trust me and I don't feel like you do."

He let out a sigh and I saw him scrub his hands over his face in my peripheral vision. "I do trust you, Ivy, I'm just scared, okay? I'm an ass to everyone because I don't think anyone can handle me and all my baggage. Suddenly, you come along and make me feel like I'm worthy of someone amazing, then I hear things like you sleeping with someone else and it absolutely wrecks me. I don't want to lose you, V, you're too important to me."

I think that might have been the most vulnerable he'd ever made himself. He was telling me exactly what he was afraid of, something I didn't think he did very often with anyone.

"You've got to stop being so down on yourself, E. I have baggage, too, so I know how to handle it better than anyone else. I also know how amazing you are and I don't want to lose you, even when you're being an insufferable ass to me. I'd rather fight with you over something stupid than be with anyone else having the best time. You have to remember how torn up I was when I thought of you with other girls a while back, right? I understand what it's like to feel wrecked inside when I think about losing you," I told him, figuring I'd bare my soul to him in return. "You're important to me, too.

"And if we're talking about having too much baggage for someone to handle, there's no way you have more than I do. I spent seventeen years acting like someone I wasn't and hanging out with people who sucked because I was so afraid of people finding out about my peculiarity. I was too afraid of being made fun of and excluded from the group to be myself, and that's about as shitty as you can get. I did awful things to people because Noel wanted me to and I wanted her to be my friend, I wanted to be popular so much I gave up my morals for a while. Then I met you and you made me feel so comfortable in my skin, it was like I was breathing for the first time. I never knew there were other people like me in the world, especially not other people who were so closely linked to death. It was like we were meant to find each other, and I don't want to let that go."

I didn't plan on getting that honest with him this early in the morning and our relationship, but it seemed like fate had a different idea. I'd told him everything, every single thing I'd tried to keep hidden from everyone my entire life. I had no secret that he didn't know about and it was kind of liberating, but I couldn't enjoy as much as I wanted because I knew he was still upset with me and didn't trust me.

"And for what it's worth, I would never choose Wren York over you," I finished, taking a ragged breath and getting out of the car. "Lock my doors when you get out, will you? I have to go to history."

My eyes were overflowing as I walked with my head down through the parking lot. I made a pit stop by the bathroom to put myself back together before going the rest of the way to class. Hugh was sitting on the complete other side of the classroom from me and it felt like a punch to the stomach. I'd lost two different sets of friends in the span of two months. That had to be some new record.

I sat down beside Ryanne Miller, a quiet girl I'd known since first grade, and kept my eyes locked on the front of the classroom. Today was going to drag by and I had to deal with it as best as I could. At least I still had Alyssa on my side.

* * *

If I thought Hugh sitting on the other side of the room was like a punch to the stomach, Enoch not even looking at me when I sat beside him was like a cannonball. My eyes burned again as I got out my notebook and pencil, but I refused to cry in front of him. I'd made myself vulnerable enough and been spurned, I didn't fancy doing it again so soon if ever.

Alyssa came in a couple seconds later and saw the two of us, her lips dropping into a deep frown. She scurried over to me and sat her stuff down before pulling her stool over to the table. Enoch got up the second she did that and went over to talk with Jacob and Hugh across the room. Jeez, this was what being legitimately frozen out felt like and I hated it.

"Please tell me something that's going to stop me from bursting into hysterical tears. I'm about to start bawling in the middle of biology," I begged in a hoarse whisper. "He hates me so much."

"He's confused and doesn't know what to believe. He heard that the girl he's in love with might have had sex with someone he already feels inferior to. That's got to be hard," Alyssa suggested, not doing much to keep me from crying. "He's dumb, but he has a pretty good reason to be upset."

"I would accept that if I hadn't poured my entire heart out to him this morning in my car. I told him everything and he just sat there. He told me he's afraid of me because I'm so out of his league and he's afraid he has too much baggage for me to handle. Then he didn't even respond when I tried to explain to him that I also have a ton of baggage," I told her. "I just feel so betrayed. That's such a dramatic word, but it's the only word I can think of to describe this feeling in my stomach. I thought he and I and his friends were closer than them believing Noel and her friends over me. I thought our relationship was stronger than that, you know?"

Apparently, I was feeling melancholy monologues today because that was the second one I'd done and it wasn't even lunch time yet. Alyssa didn't seem to have a response to that, she just hugged me and wiped away the few rogue tears that escaped as the bell rang.

"I'll be right here. I can fake a nose bleed and yank you out of class with me if I have to," she promised, giving my hands a reassuring squeeze. "I also know Noel is lying through her teeth. You're too into Enoch to even notice boys like Wren York."

If only he realized that, too.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading this, guys!**

 **Also, I'm very glad you all enjoyed the note at the end of last chapter, it makes me happy.**


	13. Chapter 13

**There aren't going to be many more chapters, just thought I'd tell you!**

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I was in the middle of hallway when my vision turned black and white. Because apparently I did something cosmically wrong in a past life, I happened to be in front of the library when it happened. Without looking at any of them, I rushed inside the room and tucked myself away in a corner to wait out the vision.

I sat down in the floor and pulled my knees up, waiting for the people to appear. This one was different than any vision I'd ever had before. It was of a guy about my age and he was by himself. I thought I only saw vision of murders, but that wasn't what this was going to be and I knew it. He walked further into the room and I saw a stool with a rope hanging over it in the shape of a noose. Even if I knew it was going to happen, I still flinched and forced my eyes shut when he kicked the stool out from under his feet.

"Ivy? Are you in here?"

Enoch's familiar voice tried to break through my vision, but the boy was still struggling and I couldn't un-see it. I reached up and covered my eyes with my hands childishly, but the image of him was seared into my eyelids. I don't know why it stuck with me so much, maybe it's because I'd been so upset lately. Not that I'd considered killing myself or anything, but it hit a little close to home.

I felt hands on my wrists and forced my eyes open. Enoch's worry filled brown ones were gazing at me as he crouched on the floor. He slowly pulled my hands down away from my face and cupped it in his, making me hold his intense gaze. I wasn't really sure what was happening between us, we were way too close for exes… was that even what we were? Did we officially break up? Hell, did we ever officially even get together?

Without thinking of the repercussions, I launched myself at him and wrapped my entire body around his. He rubbed his hands up and down my back soothingly as I tried to calm my breathing. I wasn't crying this time, I was just well on my way to having a panic attack. I couldn't see clearly as my vision turned black around the edges and I couldn't make my breath go back to normal.

"What's up? What'd you see? Just try and talk to the vision about big things and it'll get freaked and try and ignore you like I've been doing. If you're really upfront about your feelings with them, they'll feel inferior and run away," he whispered, rubbing the base of my neck. "God, I'm so sorry I've been such an unforgivable asshole lately."

I was so focused on listening to what he was saying my breathing started to get easier. I detached myself from him and slid back to sit on the floor with my knees pulled up again, creating a boundary between us.

He apologized in his own way, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to forgive him so I kept my guard up. "Thanks, I seriously didn't want to pass out in the middle of the library."

I didn't ask him about our fight and didn't say anything in response to what he'd admitted to me mid-panic attack. It's like we were back at the beginning of our relationship when he only told me how he felt whenever I was freaking out. Granted, it didn't feel so much like he was taking advantage of me this time, but I was still upset.

He sat with his knees up and his arms resting on them, his eyes never leaving my face. "I know you hate it when I'm honest while you're having a vision, but it's easier to be vulnerable when you're already like that. You're so intimidating and you don't even realize it."

A humorless laugh left my lips and it really resembled a bark. If things weren't so serious between us right now, I'm sure he would've made some kind of joke about it. Instead, he just looked at me with flushed cheeks and his brows knitted together.

"I'm serious, you already know how gorgeous I think you are. Then there's all this confidence you exude when you're just existing," he carried on. "You're so busy being you, you don't even realize how amazing it is. You see dead people and you feel them pass through you, but you're still who takes care of your little brother and you helped Alyssa plan the dance. You are always so well put together and help people whenever they need it. You don't even realize how selfless you are and you're so humble about it."

His confession threw me for a loop. I don't think I'd ever heard him talk that much unless he was explaining something or talking about war and death. He never talked about how he felt, and whenever he did, it was like pulling teeth to get more than a couple words out of him before he kissed me instead. He was more into showing me how he felt than telling me.

I forced myself to lower my legs and sit on them instead of hold them so I was level with him. Then I moved forward on my knees until there was only about half a foot between us now. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because I messed up and I lost you and I'm miserable," he told me, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I miss you, Ivy."

We'd been "broken up" for a little over a week and I missed him, too. "You didn't believe me."

My voice was tiny and defeated, but I didn't have the strength to maintain my pride. I also couldn't bring myself to meet his eyes because I still felt betrayed. Him believing Noel over me was a stab in the back I never expected.

"Things have been so good between us, I was waiting for the other boot to drop. Then Emma and Jacob told me what they overheard and it made sense to me. It wasn't even about me not trusting you, I just figured you'd finally realized you were too good for me," he explained, still being more open than I'd ever expected him to be. "I honestly didn't even know if we were supposed to be monogamous of if we were allowed to date other people. We never really talked about that."

"I figured when I said I didn't like thinking about you kissing other girls meant I didn't want the two of us to see other people," I replied, messing with my shoe string instead of looking at him. "I don't want other girls to be with you and I don't want to be with other guys. At least not before all this happened."

"I don't know how to fix this, but I really want to," he said, reaching out to tilt my face up so I had to hold his eyes. "I am so sorry I didn't believe you, V."

I let him cup my jaw and held his gaze, but I didn't say anything immediately. Apologizing was a lot for him, he didn't like to admit he was wrong. I'm pretty sure he was admitting that I was more important than his pride.

"I need you to believe me over other people. I get that you're afraid, but you have to trust me," I finally said. "I want you and only you, I want you to be my boyfriend. But being my boyfriend means you trust me and only me when it comes to stuff like that."

He nodded and reached out to grab my waist, but he let me make the final move. Even if I had the nagging feeling of his mistrust was still in my belly, I scooted forward enough to lean against his chest. He parted his legs so I could rest fully against him and one of his hands found their usual place on the back of my neck, rubbing his thumb against the base of my skull.

"Oh," Emma said when she came to check on us a couple minutes later. "I guess this means you're back together…?"

"Yes," I said after I realized Enoch wasn't going to respond. Then I pulled up from his chest and turned to look at her, "I didn't cheat, by the way. Noel's a compulsive liar who wants to make everyone as miserable inside as she is. It kind of sucks that you'd believe her over me."

Emma's expression fell and she looked down at her shoes instead of at me. "I'm sorry, Ivy. I was just afraid you'd told her because you went back to being her friend. People don't really stay around our group very long before they get freaked out and leave."

I thought I was damaged, but all of them were so much worse. I kind of felt bad that they automatically assumed people would just walk away because they were weird.

"Look, I have no intentions of going back to them. I hated who I was back then and I don't want to be her again. I like the girl I am when I'm with you guys," I told her honestly, still leaning into Enoch's embrace. "You just have to trust that I'm not like Noel, I'm not going to walk away because there's another offer."

She nodded and looked at me with her big, trusting blue eyes. "That's fair enough, I'm sorry Jake and I caused all of this."

I shrugged my shoulders. "It's okay, I get being afraid. Just come to me when you hear a rumor next time, it can stop all this from happening again."

I stood up from Enoch's embrace and hugged her, laughing when she rocked us back and forth. When we parted, she headed back outside to the others and left me and E alone. I sat back down facing him this time, but I waited for him to speak. I wanted to know what he was thinking and feeling.

"I know I've already said I'm sorry, but I want to say it again," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just want things to go back to the way they were before I messed them up."

"It doesn't work like that, Enoch. You literally believed every single person in the entire world but me," I sighed. "I want to be back together too, but we can't be what we were. We have to work to get back there."

My feelings were hurt still and no amount of apologizing was going to fix that.

* * *

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	14. Chapter 14

**You guys are awesome! Thanks for being so cool with me updating sporadically and the chapters sometimes being shorter.**

* * *

Enoch and I were still trying to patch up our relationship, but it took a back seat to Elliot's love life. He and Horace had gotten a lot closer and I may or may not have walked in on them kissing in his room the other night. My squeal of excitement/surprise must have scared poor Elliot to death because he fell off the bed with a scream and Horace's eyes grew huge.

"Oh damn, okay, when did this become a thing?" I asked, leaning against the door frame and looking at the pair of them a smirk. "Not that I wasn't expecting it or anything, but I didn't think it would happen this quickly."

I head feet stomping as Enoch ran into the room and nearly toppled me over. "What happened? Why was everyone screaming? Do I need to call the cops?"

I patted his chest and said, "Calm down, brave protector, I walked in on Eli and Horace making out and now we're talking about how obvious it was."

"I mean, you're not wrong," he replied with a shrug.

I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded, turning to look at the two sitting on the bed. "I'm assuming mom and dad don't know they need to be weary of the two of you having a sleepover?"

"Mom has no idea and I want to keep I that way," Elliot replied, his tone even as he brushed his glasses back up his nose.

My amused demeanor quickly vanished and I became the mom. "Hey, E, can you take Horace downstairs and order a pizza?"

Horace stood up and Enoch took his shoulder leading the way downstairs after kissing my head. I went over to sit beside Elliot thinking of the best way to have this conversation. It was new territory for the both of us.

"Eli, you know I accept and love you no matter what, right?" I asked finally, both of us looking straight ahead.

He sighed and I saw him nod out of my peripherals. "I know, I just don't want to come out or whatever. That makes it seem like I'm hiding who I am and I'm not, I like boys. I just don't think mom and dad will understand it that way, they'll just think I'm gay."

Oh, that wasn't something I'd thought of. "So you're not gay? I don't want to be rude or question your identity, I just want to understand."

"I'm not gay or straight or bi or anything. I just really like Horace and not in a friend kind of way," he explained, finally looking over at me. "I've always known I was different, I just don't get why I have to justify that to anyone. Does that make sense?"

"It makes sense, I never had to tell them I was straight," I replied, turning my body and crossing my legs. "You can be whatever you want to be and I will still love you. You're my little brother and your identity is yours to define. You can like whomever you want, boys and girls and everything other persona on the spectrum."

Even if he was trying to be clinical and unemotional about the situation, I saw the relief take over when I said that. "Thank you, I love you."

"I want to hug you, but I know that weirds you out sometimes," I told him, holding myself back to make sure he was comfortable.

He moved forward and wrapped his arms awkwardly around my shoulders, hugging wasn't his forte. I hugged him back and rubbed my hand across his back. Even if he felt neglected by mom and dad, I never want him to feel like he didn't belong somewhere. That was an awful feeling, one I knew about firsthand.

"Eli, I know what it's like to feel like you're different and you don't belong. Don't bottle it up and let it become you, be stronger than I was."

"I'm really glad you're my sister," he whispered against my shoulder.

* * *

The pizza came a little while later and I paid for it, kicking the door closed as I walked into the dining room. Enoch, Horace, and Elliot were already sitting in there waiting for me. I sat the boxes on the table and the frenzy began, much like I expected it to. Teenage boys LOVED food and that wasn't going to change.

"So, you don't bust me to mom and dad about Enoch staying tonight and I won't bust you for Horace staying. Deal?" I asked a little while into dinner.

I saw all of their faces blush for different reasons. Horace and Elliot were embarrassed of getting caught and Enoch had no idea it was happening because I'd just made the decision. We were almost back to normal, the deeper connection between us was missing and I was desperate to get it back.

"Deal," Elliot replied after he regained enough of him composure to speak. "God, can you not make me want to have a heart attack?"

Horace was bringing out a spunkier version of him and I really loved it. Apparently, the two of us were social butterflies underneath all of our anxiety and nervousness. It just took peculiar boys to bring us out of our shells.

Once we finished eating, we all disappeared back upstairs. Enoch was moving awkwardly, like he wasn't comfortable in his skin. Maybe my suggestion earlier really made him uncomfortable. I should have asked if he even wanted to stay tonight.

"You don't have to stay tonight if you don't want to," I told him, standing in front of his knees once he sat on my bed. "I didn't mean we were going to have sex or anything, I just wanted to mess with Elliot a little."

"It's just, we just got back together and I don't want to rush into anything," he replied, rubbing his jaw nervously.

I sighed and push him to sit up straight so I could sit on his lap with my arms draped over his shoulders. "We're not rushing into anything, if you get uncomfortable and want to stop, just tell me."

I leaned forward and connected our lips, trying to find our connection. He easily fell into our normal rhythm, sliding his hands under my hoodie to rest on the bare skin of my lower back. This time, I pulled away from him long enough to pull off the hoodie before going back to kiss his jaw. His hands wasted no time moving to chart out the newly exposed skin, not even missing a beat.

I sat up straight looked down at him, his pupils were blown out and his face was flushed. I was about to make a joke about how excited he was when he reached back and took the collar of his shirt in his hands, pulling it over his head to join mine on the floor.

"Well, I guess that's one way to respond," I grinned, placing my hands on his chest. "A very good way, possibly my favorite way."

He rolled his eyes and took my face in his hands, pulling me back into a kiss. As we kissed, I ran my hands over his skin –trying my best to memorize what it felt like under my hands. He moved one of his hands from my face down to my neck with his thumb running along my collarbone pleasurably.

I felt the hair on the back of my neck raise up and recognized the feeling immediately. The guy from my vision a while back was on the other side of my bed, the one who killed himself. As much as I hated doing it, I moved off Enoch's lap and held out my hand to the guy. He took it gratefully and evaporated, sending his pain straight to me.

The sensation of zapped through me and I started coughing. At this point, E was used to me freaking out like this so he just reached forward and rubbed my shoulders. I gasped and tried to suck in breath as my throat burned, the feeling of the rope constricting and burning my skin.

Thankfully, the feeling started to pass and only left me a little bit shaky. Enoch opened his arms and I dove into them, his warmth seeping into my freezing body. For whatever reason, the visions always left me feeling frozen.

"Are you okay? You didn't sound too good," he whispered, fiddling with something I couldn't see. "Here, put your hoodie on and we'll lay down. Don't be difficult, just do as I ask for once."

I leaned back from his body and allowed him to pull my hoodie over my head. In the process, he knocked my ponytail down. My hair released all around my shoulders and made me huff in fake annoyance. I reluctantly got up from his lap to shake my hair out and pull off my leggings, switching out my hoodie for a big t-shirt I'd stolen from Enoch forever ago, before I got back into bed.

"Are you going to lay with me or just look at me all night?" I teased, tracing his knuckles gently.

He rolled his eyes again before getting up and taking off his shoes, pulling his own shirt back on and getting into bed with me. He was stiff at first, his eyes looking everywhere but my face until I turned my back and shuffled backward until my back was pressed against his chest.

I could tell he wasn't sure where to put his hands so I helped him. I took one of them in my hand and pulled it over my side, holding it closer to my chest. He kissed the back of my neck affectionately as his breathing fluttered my hair.

I could feel his heart against my shoulder and it made warmth blossom inside me. This was the closeness I was missing, I should've known I couldn't just get it back from kissing him. His help through my visions and the way he comforted me when people passed through me, that was what brought us closer together.

* * *

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	15. Chapter 15

**Hi, this chapter happened all at once and just kind of formed itself. I hope you like it.**

 **It's also kind of a big moment, but if you blink you'll probably miss it.**

* * *

"I want you to meet my family."

Enoch and I were working on homework in my kitchen while Elliot and Horace watched TV in the living room. I gave him a strange look with my eyebrows knitted together, confusion clear on my face.

"Uhm, E, I've already met your family…" I said slowly. "We all had dinner together… Remember?"

He laughed and shook his head, "No, not my parents. I meant the others like me, there are more of them than just the ones from school and Horace. There's also Miss Peregrine."

"Isn't that a type of hawk?" I asked, trying to make sense of the curve ball he just threw me.

My question made him laugh harder than I expected, but I loved it when he was happy like that. Without thinking, I reached across the table and gave his hand a squeeze. He brought our clasped fingers up to his lips and kissed the top of my hand before he went on with his explanation. It was the little things about him that drove me crazy and kept me coming back for more.

"Yes, she's an ymbryne," he said.

I searched through my knowledge of everything to see if that word was supposed to mean something to me and came up empty. It must've showed on my face because he started explaining a little bit later.

"An ymbryne is a peculiar who can manipulate time and take the form of a bird. During times of great danger, they start loops where peculiar children can go to be safe from the world," he told me.

"And what's a loop?"

"It's a period of time, usually a day, that repeats forever," he replied, abandoning the book he was reading and turning his full attention to me.

"So, she's a bird who controls the loop where peculiars go when they're threatened?" I asked, trying to piece together everything he'd just told me. "Does that sound right?"

"That's the basic gist of everything. Do you want to meet all of them?" he asked, an edge of nervousness present in his voice that wasn't before. "No pressure to say yes or anything."

I could tell by the look on his face this was important to him. Even if the thought of being around this woman freaked me out, I knew I had to do it. It wasn't just his family I was meeting, it was everyone's that had taken me in at school.

"As long as you're there with me, okay?" I finally said, making a grin tug at his lips.

"Always so needy," he smirked, leaning over and kissing me. "Such a clinger."

I huffed and pulled away from him, making his lips slip into a pout the second they parted from mine. I was about to make a sarcastic remark about him being the needy, clingy one, but he didn't give me time. He reached forward and pulled me onto his lap and pulling me into an aggressive kiss that had tingles spreading throughout my entire body.

"It's not very fair when you kiss me like that. It makes me forget everything," I reprimanded as he moved his kisses down to my neck. "Even my very good and witty retorts to you."

"Something tells me you'll come back tenfold later," he murmured against my throat. "Now let me kiss you and be quiet."

I grinned before pressing our lips together with my arms draped over his shoulders. That seemed to please him because I felt his lips tug up into a smile against mine. We made out for a while just sitting in the kitchen until I heard the front door open. Elliot and I were already home so that meant one of our parents was here… Great.

"Speaking of meeting families, do you want to meet mine?" I asked, standing up and smoothing down his hair where my fingers had been. "I know you've kind of already met my mom, but something tells me it's about to get more personal now."

His face paled and he looked at me with big eyes. It never failed to surprise me whenever he got nervous, it was really endearing. I leaned forward and kissed his forehead before going back to my chair as the door pushed open.

"Hi, dad," I greeted, nodding my head at him. "This is my boyfriend, Enoch."

"Ah, the one who took you to the dance," he replied, his attention anywhere and everywhere but on us. "It's nice to meet you, Ernie."

"Enoch," he choked out, making my dad look over at him. "Uhm, my name is Enoch, sir."

That was about as sassy as he got when it came to adults, especially my parents. I grinned at him and winked when our eyes met. I was very impressed he was kind of holding his own when it came to my dad.

I was about to get onto my father about how rude he was being when I noticed the mark on his neck. He had a hickey, my thirty-nine year old father had a hickey on his neck. I knew for a fact my mother didn't leave it there because she thought they were trashy and nearly lost her mind when she found one on my neck when I was fourteen.

That was the proof I'd been missing, the proof of him cheating on my mom. She wasn't a great person and cared more about her looks than her family most of the time, but no one deserved to be cheated on. Even if I wasn't close with my mother, I felt tears burning my eyes. Another betrayal wasn't on my list of ways to end 2016.

"Uhm, your scotch is in the den," I told him trying to keep my voice from giving away how I felt.

I saw him nod before he left the kitchen and my eyes overflowed. I leaned back against the island and covered my face with my hands like I could hide what was happening from Enoch. I know I mentioned it like I was indifferent to their possible cheating, but that was when it was all in my head. Like he read my mind, E was up and standing in front of me in a couple seconds, gently pulling my hands away from my face so I had to look at him.

"He's cheating on my mom," I told him, fat tears rolling down my cheeks. "I thought it had been happening for a while, but there's a hickey on his neck and I know it's not from her. It has to be from another woman."

He thumbed my tears out of the way before leading us over to the table to sit down. "How do you know your mom didn't leave that? Old people still have sex."

I was too worked up to shudder over the thought like I should have. "Because my mother detests hickeys. She thinks they're the trashiest thing in the entire world. I came in with one when I was younger and I swear I thought she was going to disown me."

I saw a swell of jealousy cross his face, but he stamped it down after a few moments. "Okay, it's okay. Uhm, your mom is kind of insane, not that that means she deserves to be cheated on. No one deserves that, but maybe you need to hear your dad's side of the story. Or not, that's probably the last thing you want to hear."

"You are kind of the best person I've ever met," I told him, sniffling as I wiped my face with my sleeve. "I think I'm in love with you."

He raised his eyebrows and his jaw dropped a bit as he struggled to respond. Maybe it was too early in our relationship to say that, and I honestly didn't even realize I felt that way until it left my mouth. We'd been together for almost five months and he was literally the best part of my day, I was always happiest whenever we were together. That was what love meant to me.

"Oh, uh, really?" he asked, seemingly in disbelief. "Like, you genuinely feel that way or you're working up to it or you're already there or…"

"Hush, I'm in love with you. For real and definitely," I replied, maneuvering myself onto his lap again and holding his face in my hands. "I love you, Enoch Allen O'Connor."

His face turned so red it matched his t-shirt as his hands stilled their nervous movements on my hips. "You're sure?"

"Stop questioning it before I take it back," I teased, sliding my hands back into his hair. "I love you, that's all."

"I love you, too," he said quickly. "Obviously, I've loved you for a while actually."

I leaned forward and rested my forehead against his with my eyes closed. He was the only person I've ever met that could cheer me up within seconds of me being hurt. I could feel him looking at me, but I didn't open my eyes to make sure. This moment was okay and I needed that before I went and confronted my dad.

* * *

Enoch and Horace left about an hour or so later and I went to the den. I took a couple deep breaths outside the door before knocking. When it opened, I saw my dad still in his work clothes with his tie loosened and his hair messy like he'd scrubbed his hands through it a bunch of times.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice tired.

"Are you cheating on mom?" I asked, figuring beating around the bush was stupid. "And before you answer, I know the truth."

Okay, so I was bluffing. I'd already said I had no concrete proof of the affair, but he didn't know that. Just like I figured, I watched him crumple and cover his face in defeat. I'd never been close with either of my parents but seeing him so broken was hard.

"Does your brother know?" he asked through his hands.

That was one way for the situation to go, but it wasn't the one I expected. "If he does, it's not because I've told him. He's a lot smarter than me, I'm sure he knows something's up."

He sighed and dropped his hands from his face, stepping to the side and waiting for me to come in before closing the door behind me. He then gestured for me to sit down, but I crossed my arms over my chest defiantly instead. He just shrugged and sat back behind his desk, downing the glass of scotch on his desk before refilling it.

"I've been cheating on your mother with my secretary for a month and other people before that on and off for a year," he told me, swirling the alcohol around in the cup instead of looking at me. "Debra has been cheating on me for longer."

I took that seat he offered and rubbed the bridge of my nose to stave off the headache brewing at my hairline. "So, the two of you have been cheating on each other instead of getting a divorce? Why? Are appearances that important?"

"You obviously don't understand what it takes to be successful, Ivy. You're dating the undertakers' son after all," he sighed, finally looking up at me. "If we divorce, we have to go through court and have everything split between us. It's too messy and too much of an effort for something that doesn't exist. Love is only about what you can get from it, there is no real point."

"So does that mean you don't love me or Elliot? It's not like we can give you anything," I replied, bitterness coloring my words. "Or do you love us because we're attractive and look good with you at events?"

He shook his head and I knew I'd hit the nail on the head. Elliot and I were just eye candy to make him and mom look like doting parents. There was no family here, the only family I really had was Eli.

"You're wrong, love isn't about that," I replied, shaking my head. "I'm so sorry that you're like this and you'll never know how amazing it makes you feel."

He rolled his eyes and downed the rest of his drink. "You're being dramatic, Ivy. You and your mother are too much alike for your own good sometimes."

"Whatever," I replied. "I'm going to Alyssa's."

He acted like he didn't even hear me so I turned around and stomped away. I threw some clothes into a bag and grabbed my backpack before going into Eli's room to tell him what I was going to do.

"Hey, I'm going to Enoch's house for a while and then I think I'll stay with Alyssa," I told him, sitting beside him on his bed.

"Are you okay?" he asked, dropping his book and turning around to face me "You're crying, V. What's wrong?"

I reached up to touch my face and realized he was right, I was so angry I was crying. "This isn't how I wanted you to find out, but mom and dad are cheating on each other. I don't want to stay here tonight. I'll come get you in the morning for school."

"I know, I've known for a while," he shrugged. "Is that why you're crying? I didn't think it'd bother you that much."

That made me laugh as I wiped my face for the millionth time. "I'm not crying because I'm sad, I'm frustrated and you know I cry when I'm mad."

He shrugged and wrapped his arms around me. I couldn't reiterate this enough, Elliot really hated human contact. I seriously loved my little brother so much.

"I love you, Eli. Call me if you need me," I said after we broke apart and I stood up. "I'll see you in the morning."

He nodded and went back to his book, that was as much social interaction as he could handle and I was thankful for every moment of it.

* * *

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	16. Chapter 16

**There will be one more chapter of this story, folks. It's drawing to an end, I just have a couple loose ends to tie up for the conclusion to fall into place. I'll see you on the other side.**

* * *

I sat in Enoch's driveway for almost ten minutes before his mom came outside to my car. I didn't know what to say to her, I just sat with tears on my face. She ended up getting into my passenger seat and sat with me in silence until I finally broke it.

"My mom and dad have been cheating on each other for the past year," I said, staring straight ahead at the pickup in the drive in front of me. "My dad thinks love is just about what you can get from someone. If they're that messed up, what if I'm just like them?"

I hadn't even allowed myself that thought until right now. If both of my parents were messed up and thought all those demented things about love, it was probably hereditary. It was only a matter of time until I started ruining relationships because I was cold or something like that. I would probably end up becoming my mom. A very scary thought to foster.

"I don't think you are. Enoch talks about how you take care of Elliot, no one can be cold when they take care of their little brother the way you do," she told me, placing her hand on mine. "I know it's sad when you find out your parents aren't perfect and make mistakes, but it isn't guaranteed you're going to be them when you're older. I mean look at Enoch, he can bring things back to life with his hands and his father and I make sure things are dead. That's a pretty big difference."

My head snapped over to look at her and I saw a knowing smile tugging at her lips. "He's my son, Ivy, I know everything about him. But it's his secret to have and to tell us if he wants to. Do keep it under wraps that we know, will you?"

I nodded and said, "I know my parents aren't perfect and that they only had me and Elliot because we looked good at holiday parties, I even knew my dad was cheating before he told me about it. It's just a completely different thing to think you know and then be told for sure. It kind of makes me wonder if love is even a genuine, real thing."

"I can't speak for other people, but I know it's real and genuine for me. I've loved Ben since I was sixteen with every inch of my heart. And then we had Enoch and I love him even more, no matter what he does. I also know Enoch loves you very genuinely, he has for a while," she told me, her fingers rubbing over my hand soothingly.

"I love him a lot, too. There's never been anyone in my life who makes me feel the way he does," I admitted to her. "I'm so happy whenever we're together, he's who gives me hope about love. I want to think it's real because of him and how it feels when we're together."

Her smile was bright when I finished and she reached forward to tap my nose. "I hate to break it to you, but that feeling is love in a nutshell."

Her reassurance made the ice incasing my heart melt and relief course through me. I spent time worrying about loving people when I was already completely in love.

"I know it's late, but do you mind if I come in and talk to Enoch?" I asked, chewing my lip nervously.

"Honey, it's too late for you to drive anywhere," she answered, getting out and waiting for me to join her before heading inside. "Ben's making up the bed in the guest room for you tonight."

I hugged her and realized I saw my breath in the night air. It was getting colder and the thought of driving anywhere was kind of scary. It was also a school night, I needed to get in bed before it would be impossible to get up in the morning. I grabbed my backpack from the backset and locked my doors before following her inside.

"V," Enoch said, rushing over to me and wrapping me up in his arms. "What's up? Is everything okay?"

I hugged him tight and laid my forehead against his neck. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he replied in a nervous voice. "Is there some reason you're telling me this? Are you breaking up with me or moving across the country or something?"

I shook my head and kissed his skin. "No, I just needed to remind myself that you're real sometimes. Don't make fun of me for it or I swear I'll never kiss you again."

I couldn't see his face, but I know he was smiling when he kissed the crown of my head.

* * *

It was Saturday and I was having dinner with all of Enoch's extended family. My own family was pretty much the same, but they were around even less if you could even imagine. Neither Eli nor I took it very personally, we were better when it was just the two of us anyway.

"This is a bad idea," I sighed from the passenger seat of Enoch's car as he drove to Miss Peregrine's house. "They're going to hate me. Or I'm going to have a vision or feel a death in the middle of dessert! This is going to be a disaster."

"This might be the perfect place for you to see or feel something, love," he replied, kissing the side of my head when we stopped at a red light. "You already know most of them and they love you and so do I. Isn't that enough?"

I sighed and nodded, leaning back in the seat and evening out my breathing. He was really excited about tonight and I needed to appreciate that. I'm sure he was just as nervous as I was, it would be really uncomfortable if we didn't all like each other.

As soon as he parked behind another car, Emma rushed over to me. I felt some of the weight on my shoulders let up when she hugged me. Enoch was right, this was going to be okay as long as I didn't let things get so intense in my head. I had a tendency to create situations that made everything a lot more complicated for everyone.

I barely had enough time to grab Enoch's hand before Emma dragged me towards the big house. This place was way too big for one person to live, then I saw the sign in the front yard. It was a kids' group home. Everything sort of fell into place for me, this must be a place where kids went when they had peculiarities whose parents couldn't handle said peculiarities.

Emma, Bronwyn, Fiona, Hugh, and Horace were all in the living room waiting for us to come in. What was left of my stress evaporated at the familiar faces, I could handle this. There was something about me that attracted peculiars, I just needed to crank it up for this dinner and hope for the best.

I felt Enoch place his hand on my lower back and leaned in to him. When I turned to kiss his cheek, I saw that he had a little girl sitting on his hip with blonde curls. The second she saw me looking at her, she hid her face in Enoch's neck and made me smile.

"Hi, I'm Ivy," I greeted, reaching out and tickling her sides. "What's your name?"

She lifted her head enough to smile at me and replied, "I'm Claire. Are you Enoch's girlfriend?"

"I am," I said, hoping she was going to be happy about the news.

"Wonderful!" she cheered, moving off Enoch and over into my arms. "Hi, I want to show you my dolls!"

She wiggled down to the ground and took my hand, racing through the halls before anyone else could say anything. When I looked back over my shoulder, I saw Enoch smiling and he winked at me when our eyes met. I bit my lip to keep my own grin from being too blinding.

We pushed into a room with a bed that had two dolls lying on it. She hopped up onto it and handed me the brunette one, immediately starting to play. I hadn't played dolls in so long, it kind of reminded me of my grandmother. She died when I was eight and my mom never spoke of her after the funeral.

I don't know how long we'd been in her room when someone knocked on the jamb of the door. Enoch walked over to the two of us and sat behind me, leaning forward to see what we were doing. He kissed my temple before smiling at Claire.

"Miss Peregrine told me to come find Ivy. She wants to meet her, too," he teased, tugging on one of Claire's curls playfully. "You'd better share."

Claire sighed before she nodded and tucked her dolls back into the bed. Then she hopped down and ran out of the room in a whirl of skirts and hair. I leaned back against E's chest and felt him wrap his arms around my middle. After a few minutes, my nervousness evaporated and warmth blossomed in my belly.

"Claire loves everyone, you'd better lay it on extra thick for the bird," he whispered, rubbing his hands over my hips soothingly. "She's very intimidating, nothing like Claire or any of the others."

"Are you trying to make me less nervous?" I asked, whirling around to glare at him. "Because it's not working!"

"He's being impossible, it's his specialty," a voice said from the hallway. "Miss Peregrine sent me to find the two of you for dinner, probably come downstairs if you want anything to eat."

Enoch stood up and pulled me to my feet beside him. I looked out in the hallway for the source of the voice, but it was empty. My eyebrows knitted together as I looked up at Enoch in confusion. What the hell?

"Millard's invisible," Enoch explained, annoyance clear in his voice. "Millard, this is Ivy."

A floating dress shirt with a sweater vest and khakis came into the room with us. He had a hat on his head, well, I assume it was his head. I guess peculiarities really knew no bounds, they could literally be anything.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you," he replied and I struggled to know where to look as he talked. "You're looking at my nose, if you look up a hair it'll be my eyes."

I felt my cheeks heat up as I got flustered. "I'm sorry! Is that rude? I promise I'm not trying to be rude!"

"You're quite alright, I appreciate you trying," he replied, I could hear a smile in his voice. "The bird is ready for dinner, we'd better head down."

I had no idea who the bird was or what it meant, but I allowed Enoch to lead me back downstairs. His fingers gave mine a reassuring squeeze before we entered the dining room with everyone already sitting at the table. Enoch pulled my chair out for me before sitting in the empty chair beside mine.

"Hello, I'm Miss Peregrine. Welcome to my home," the lady at the head of the table greeted happily. "I've heard from many of my children that you've got a peculiarity as well, which is wonderful. We celebrate differences here!"

I was still a bit nervous when my peculiarity was mentioned so openly, but I knew Miss Peregrine meant no harm. "That's nice, I spent a long time trying to hide my sight. It's nice to be somewhere I can be myself."

"Think of this as your home, Ivy," she told me. "You're always welcome, whether you're accompanying Enoch or you're on your own."

Her words rang true to me and I nodded gratefully. With that, she announced that we could eat and the kids all fell on the food. I watched out of the corner of my eye and saw Claire hold her food behind her head. Then she lifted her hair and I heard something chewing… did she have a mouth on the back of her head?

Enoch's hand had been resting on my knee but squeezed when he saw me eyeing Claire subtly. He nodded a little and I shrugged, focusing on my plate. The food was spectacular, but Enoch's thumb rubbing circles on the inside of my knee. Warmth sparked in the bottom of my belly and licked through my entire body. Such a simple, absentminded action shouldn't make heat course through me –especially not when I was at a table with children.

A girl who was lighter than air, Olive I think, was telling the table about floating up into a tree to save a squirrel when I placed my hand over Enoch's on my knee. I held it tight and felt him glance over at me so I licked my lips and bit my bottom one, hoping he got what I was saying. I couldn't very well vocalize that he was turning me one while at the dinner table with his family.

By the time Olive finished her story, Enoch's hand had drifted up to rest on my thigh instead of my knee and I'd choked on my carrots almost four times. Thankfully, we all finished eating not long after that and Miss Peregrine announced that bath time was closing in for the younger children. Claire rushed over to me and hugged my legs, making me laugh and lift her up for a real hug in response.

"You have to come back soon! You're so much fun!" she cried, hugging my neck tight. "Thank you for playing dollies with me."

I hugged her back and sat her on her feet, watching her chase Olive up the stairs. Granted, Olive cheated and took off her weighted shoes to float to the top, but Claire just giggled and demanded a rematch tomorrow. I said my goodbyes and followed Enoch back out to his car, a light snow falling and dusting the hood while we were inside.

"You were not very nice to me during dinner!" I chided once we were in the warm car. "I'm mad at you."

"So that means you don't want me to invite you back to my house?" he asked, backing out of the parking lot. "Need I mention that my parents are at a mortuary convention this weekend and I'm home alone?"

"Like I need an invitation to come over to your house and make out with you," I sassed, tossing my ponytail over my shoulder. "You'd better get there soon or I'm going to start kissing you while you drive, I know how distracted that makes you…"

"Gonna get us killed so much that I can't even bring us back," he muttered under his breath as he goosed the engine. "Bloody minx."

* * *

 **I'll kind of let your imagination wander when it comes to what they did when they got back to Enoch's because I'm not quite sure where it's going.**

 **Tell me what you think in a review and it might make it into the next chapter...**


	17. Chapter 17

**This is the last chapter, you all. Thanks for being so supportive and reviewing every chapter, it really meant a lot.**

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Elliot and I were eating dinner together in the dining room when my parents decided to join us…together. They sat down at the table and stayed silent for a couple minutes, looking at everything except each other or either of us. Finally, the tension was too much and I couldn't take it anymore.

"What's up?" I asked, sitting down my fork and taking control of the situation. "Did someone die or something?"

"Your father and I are going to counseling for what's left of our marriage," mom said, bridging her fingers and shifting her gaze to them instead of the wall behind Eli's head. "It isn't fair you two have to deal with all this, it isn't fair that you've had to take care of Elliot for all this time, Ivy."

That didn't sit well with me, so I spoke up. "Elliot is my little brother, I would do anything and everything he needed me to do. Our relationship has nothing to do with you."

"Do you really think there is counseling anywhere on the planet good enough to help this disaster?" Elliot asked, wiping his mouth with his napkin and looking straight at my parents. "Just get a divorce or don't, but I don't understand why you're doing this."

Elliot wasn't much of a talker, he must be either overwhelmed or finished with the situation. I reached over and squeezed his knee under the table, showing him my support. We were a united front right now, I always had his back.

"I want this family," mom finally answered. "I love both of you and your father."

"Bullshit," I swore, making my mother gasp dramatically. "There's no way you two love each other. You don't cheat on people you love, you don't break their heart and treat them like their feelings don't matter. I would never do to Enoch what you two have done to each other, that's how I know I love him."

Mom pinched the bridge of her nose and I saw dad roll his eyes. "You're acting like a petulant child, Ivy. This isn't your decision to make, you and that boy don't dictate what love is. I promise you're not the first teenager who thinks they're in love and you're not going to be the last. He'll be over you the second you put out and on to the next skirt. It's how men are wired, just ask your father."

There it was, the snarky remarks that made their entire relationship unravel. There was no way they could ever work out all the kinks in their marriage, it was impossible. A divorce was the best option for everyone involved. Elliot was right, counseling wouldn't fix this –it couldn't.

"Whatever, I don't need your approval nor do I need you to agree with me," I replied, pushing up from the table. "I'm going to go upstairs and finish my homework. Good look with your counseling."

I took my dishes into the kitchen before going up to my room and shutting my door behind me. I'd just walked into my room when my vision turn black and white. I sat down on my bed and took a couple calming breaths as the scene started playing out in front of me.

It was a man and woman in their late twenties or early thirties and they were screaming at each other. This was about to get personal and I really didn't want to watch what was going to happen. Their screaming hit a fever pitch and the man drew back, punching the woman straight in the face and sending her falling backwards. I heard the sick crack of her head hitting the corner of a table before the vision disappeared. That was going to be a terrible one to feel later on.

I grabbed my computer and started working on my history paper. When Skype started ringing, I saw Enoch's face on the screen. I answered it and saw his sleepy face, making warmth blossom in my belly. He was so freakin' cute.

"You look like you're exhausted," I exclaimed, smiling at him before going back to writing my introduction to orientalism. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to see your face," he replied in a rough voice. He must've seen the disbelief on my face because he ran a hand through his hair before admitting, "I had a bad dream and wanted to make sure it didn't really happen."

I abandoned my paper and focused solely on Enoch. "What happened? Do you want to talk about it, baby?"

"Uhm, there are these things in the peculiar world called hollows. They hunt us down and eat our souls so they live forever. Only certain people can see them, the only ones I've ever known are Jacob and his grandfather, but they're vicious things. Emma, Hugh, Fiona, and I were hunted by some a few years ago on vacation," he told me, discomfort and fear clear on his face. "In my dream, they caught both of us and I had to watch while they ate your eyes and your soul. It was terrible."

That was so scary and I hadn't even seen the dream. I hated that I wasn't there to comfort him, he looked like a child he was so afraid. His eyes were big and vulnerable with his bottom lip having a slight tremble. All in all, he looked like he was barely fighting the urge to start bawling.

"Are you parents home?" I asked, getting up and shoving my feet into shoes. "It doesn't matter, I'm on my way to your place right now."

He hung up the Skype call and called me on my phone instead. I answered it and allowed him to just talk while I told Elliot where I was going. Then I jogged out to my car and broke a couple laws to get to E's house faster. He was waiting for me at the door in flannel pajama pants with a big sweater. As I got closer, I realized how disheveled he looked –the dream must've really shook him up.

I slid my phone into the pocket of my hoodie along with my car keys before going up to him. He wrapped me up in his arms and buried his head in my hair with his forehead pressed against my neck. I backed us up so I could close the door from the cold as I ran my fingers through his hair soothingly.

"Let's go to the couch, yeah?" I murmured quietly, leading him toward the living room as I talked and soothed him.

I reclined back against the cushions and he laid back against me, his face resting against my face. His hand rested on my stomach under my sweatshirt, rubbing absentmindedly over my skin as I massaged his scalp soothingly.

"I love you," he breathed against my throat. "Thank you for coming, even if I'm an impossible ass 90% of the time."

"You're an impossible ass 100% of the time, but I'd rather deal with you than be with anyone else," I replied, kissing his curls. "I love you so much, E."

He let out a content sigh, his shoulders losing the tension they held merely seconds ago. A couple minutes passed and I felt his breathing even out as they hit my neck. I continued running my fingers through his hair and my other hand over his back.

I don't know how long we lay there before his parents came in. Enoch was a heavy sleeper so he didn't even move when they came in laughing together. They were what parents were supposed to be, so in love and fun. They were so lost in their own little world they didn't even notice the two of us on the couch.

"Ivy, we didn't even see you, love!" Penelope exclaimed, placing a hand over her heart when she glanced into the living room. "Is my poppet okay?"

"Yeah, he just called me earlier and sounded pretty upset so I came over," I replied, gesturing to our position. "I'm sorry I didn't ask your permission before I came."

"It's okay, he's been having some rotten nightmares the last few nights," she replied, sitting on the edge of the coffee table beside the couch. "I think this might be the first good sleep he's gotten in a while."

Like he heard her, he burrowed even further into my chest and his grip on my hip tightened. I kissed the side of his head without thinking and heard him hum in contentment. I saw his mom smile in my peripheral vision.

"You can stay, but please be safe," he told me, holding my eyes seriously. "I'm not saying you should have sex because I think you're too young, but there are condoms in the upstairs bathroom. If you choose to do it, make sure you do it safely."

I know my face was burning and I was thankful Enoch was asleep so I didn't have to deal with his discomfort as well as mine. "That's good to know, I guess."

"You two are going to do things and I just want you to be okay when you do," she told me, squeezing my shoulder before standing up to leave the living room. "Goodnight, Ivy."

I nodded at her before sliding down a bit on the couch to get comfortable myself. Once I was happy, I felt myself dozing off with E still sleeping on my chest. There was a warmth I'd never really felt before with his lanky body draped over mine.

* * *

I woke up the next morning to someone tracing their fingers over the exposed skin of my stomach. A rough laugh left my lips as I forced my eyes open to see Enoch already looking down at me. When our eyes met, he leaned down and kissed me chastely.

"Hi, you're pretty when you first wake up," he whispered. "I heard you talking to mom about us being _safe_ last night, by the way."

"You were awake for that?" I exclaimed, pulling back and hitting his chest. "What the hell? Why'd you make me go through that alone? It was one of the most awkward moments of my life."

"Oh, I've already got that talk. A lot," he said, his face turning red as he remembered the sex talk with his mom. "The night you came here after the fight with your dad. My father told me that I had to use a condom every time and always respect you while mom went out to you. It was terrible. Like I would be dumb enough to not use a condom or ever not respect you."

"So your parents basically think we're constantly going at it?" I asked, twisting my fingers though his hair absentmindedly. "That's good to know."

He laughed and the air from it hit my throat, warming it pleasantly. "I guess that's probably true. That or they think I'm a sad virgin, which is true."

"I don't think you're a sad virgin. I think you're an asshole and a virgin, but sad isn't anywhere in the equation, E," I replied sassily. "I'm also a virgin, if you were curious."

The tension in his shoulders evaporated at my confession and he let out a huff of breath. "That takes a lot of pressure off."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, scratching my nails over his scalp now as he rubbed my back.

"Well, when we eventually have sex, you'll have nothing to compare it to. I can't be awful, and you'll never know," he answered. "I'm sure I will be awful, if you're curious."

I sighed and tilted his head up until we were looking at each other. "Shut up, I love you and there's nothing you can do about it. You might as well just buckle up for the ride and realize that we're both going to be terrible. It just means we have to have a lot of practice to make it better."

His eyes lit up and his expression turned eager. "Well, my parents are out if you want to get a head start on that…"

I rolled my eyes at his excitement but nodded my head anyway. He nearly knocked me into the floor in his haste to get off the couch. Then he grabbed me around the waist and hefted me over his shoulder, running up the stairs.

Damn, I loved this boy.

* * *

 **Happy Holidays to you and the ones you love.**


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